


Blueberries, Edgelords, AUs, Oh My!

by Luna_Nightshade



Series: The Blueberries Against the Forces of the Asshole Underfell Papyrus [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell, Alternate Universe - Underswap, Blueberries, NSFW, Other, Smut, Soul Abuse, Suicide, Underfell Papyrus being a dick, self questioning, will probably add more later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-06-06 21:37:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 19
Words: 30,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6771187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna_Nightshade/pseuds/Luna_Nightshade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blueberry had not been expecting to end up in a different universe from his own when he accidentally fell asleep on the couch after a very long day, and the Underfell brothers were certainly not expecting to find the lost skeleton in their living room! Life must go one, though, and Fell decides it best to claim Blueberry his own. This obviously doesn't go over well...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Blueberry Far From It's Patch

It was already dark by the time Blueberry had started his long walk home. One of the dogs had managed to damage every one of his puzzles, which did not lead to a relaxing day for the small skeleton. Hours upon hours were spent trying to put things back together again, and even still there was more to do. Blue saw no end in sight to this disaster, but tried his best to stay positive. That attitude coupled with everything he had gotten done today left Blue utterly exhausted and, when he got home, he wasn't that surprised that the first thing he did was flop on the couch. At least his brother was doing something today, though that might have been because he saw what Blueberry would be doing.

The old, wore cushions were fairly inviting and Blue couldn't force his eyesockets open for very long. He already felt himself drifting off, but he did nothing to stop it. He didn't have the energy to go upstairs. Papy would bring him to bed when he got home. Yeah, there was no worrying to be done. Blue was fine. Or so he thought.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Fell woke up to a loud alarm much too close to his head. God damn, he forgot he had set the damn thing on the edge of his bed after his fucking dumbass of a brother broke his nightstand. With a glare that could probably kill passed to the clock, Fell's boney hand slammed down on it. How the poor thing didn't break was anyone's guess.  
  
Finally getting up, Fell stretched, his back creaking a bit from lying all night in its uncomfortable position, but showing no more resistance. The skeleton grumbled something about his brother needing to be up before pulling on his appropriate cloths. There was no way the captain of the Royal Guard could set foot out of his room in casual cloths. That would mean almost certain death. Of course Fell could fight back, but that wouldn't make it any easier.  
  
Once fully dressed and mostly awake, Fell exited his room. He had been expecting to be met with the smell of breakfast, but instead was greeted with a stock stiff, worthless Red looking over the banister at something downstairs. This obviously set off alarms in Fell's head. Was there someone in the house? But Red was only ever scared of Fell, he would just kill anyone else, so what the fuck was wrong? Fell didn't ask, rather pushed Red out of the way and looked down himself. He immediately stopped when he noticed exactly what had Red so excited.  
  
"WHAT IN THE ABSOLUTE LIVING FUCK IS GOING ON?!" Fell half yelled.  
  
"i-i-i...i don't kn-know, boss." Red mumbled, still watching the person lying helplessly on the couch.  
  
Fell hurried down the stairs to examine the intruder further. It was a smaller, more innocent version of Red. The absolutely tiny skeleton was draped in what looked like supposed-to-be-armor that really wouldn't protect anyone and an awfully gaudy bright blue bandana. Even with the get-up the skeleton looked not one bit threatening, which was odd considering his was almost the fucking spitting image of Red. Fell couldn't help his mouth being slightly a gap watching the other sleeping. Didn't he know where he was? Didn't he realize anyone could kill him like this? Still, the biggest question remained, how was this possible?  
  
"GREAT, NOW THERE'S TWO OF YOU." Fell turned to his brother.  
  
"i've heard about multiple universes before, but I never thought...maybe this is just...a coincidence..." Red continued to mumble nonsensically science bullshit to himself.  
  
"YEAH, A COINCIDENCE THAT A SKELETON THAT LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE YOUR SORRY ASS ENDS UP ASLEEP ON OUR COUCH WITHOUT WARNING. TOTALLY BELIEVE THAT SHIT." Fell tsked, "IS HE GONNA WAKE UP? I'D LIKE SOME ANSWERS BEFORE I KILL HIM, BUT I DON'T HAVE THE PATIENCE FOR THAT THIS EARLY IN THE MORNING."  
  
"what, you still rattled from your alarm clock being right next to your head?" Red couldn't resist the opportunity for the jab.  
  
"SAY IT AGAIN, SEE WHAT ELSE WILL BREAK." Fell warned.  
  
As Red flinched away from his brother, the other skeleton stirred. It seemed the ruckus had been enough to wake him from his stupor. His eye sockets opened slowly, something Fell noted as weakness. No one woke up without immediately taking in their surroundings for any kind of threat. Fell summoned a glowing red bone and aimed it at the smaller skeleton's neck bones, making sure there was only enough room for him to shift to look up at him. The other skeleton's eyes immediately widened, showing off the bright blue glow of magic pupils.  
  
"p-papyrus?" Blueberry asked, looking slightly up at the much scarier version of his brother.  
  
Under normal circumstances, Blue would think Undyne talked Papyrus into cosplaying again, but that wasn't the case here. No, Blue's brother would never, in a million years, hurt, or threaten to hurt for that matter, Blueberry. He had been careful for years never to even accidentally step on Blue's foot. Whoever this was leering over Blue, it was not his brother.  
  
"STAY DOWN, YOU WORTHLESS WELP. IF YOU WANT A MERCIFUL DEATH, YOU'LL DO AS YOU'RE TOLD." Fell warned.  
  
"p-please, d-don't h-h-hur-"  
  
Blueberry stopped when the threatening bone scrapped against his cheek roughly. "DID I GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO SPEAK?"  
  
With a small cry, Blue shook his head no and tightly closed his chattering teeth together. He swallowed as hard as he could without an throat and watched this dark Papyrus intently. Though he didn't want to admit it, Blueberry knew this was the start of his end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will put you all through feels hell MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!


	2. Do You Know What Happens When You Squeeze a Blueberry Real Hard?

By the time Fell had finally settled on which questions to ask, Blueberry had curled up as tight as possible on the couch. His knees got in between the glowing red bone and Blue's neck as a type of protection and tears pricked his eye sockets. Two pinpricks of blue light watched Blue's captor carefully, moving only once to take in his odd, reddish counterpart.  
  
Fell decided not to beat around the bush and instead went with the blunt question, "WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?"  
  
For a moment, Blueberry didn't speak. When he realized he had been asked a question, he really didn't understand how to answer, "i-i don't know."  
  
"OF COURSE YOU KNOW. YOU CAME FROM THERE." Fell had no sympathy, his patience growing thin.  
  
Blue really had no idea what Fell meant, this was where he had fallen asleep last night, on his couch in his house, but this was neither his couch nor his house. Something was wrong, but Blue didn't know what. He had been in his world last he checked, but now he was somewhere completely foreign to him, though it was mostly identical to his own home. Somehow, the skeleton got the idea that Fell would not be amused if he answered "here", so he refrained from saying that. A better answer would be to just straight up ask what Fell meant or even to say he didn't have a right to ask, but that would take courage, the one thing Blue didn't have at the moment.  
  
"i-i-i-i-i--" Blue stuttered.  
  
"I IS NOT AN ANSWER. TELL ME WHERE YOU CAME FROM OR I WON'T LET YOU LIVE TO TAKE ANOTHER BREATH."  
  
Blue shied away. He wanted nothing more than to tell Fell where he was from, but he couldn't. Not without making the taller skeleton madder than he already was. So, he resorted to lying, "i-i'm from, u-uh, waterfall! y-yeah, a r-r-remote part of waterfall."  
  
He was absolutely fucking terrible at lying. Fell saw right through it. This little shrimp, Fell wanted nothing more than to kill him and be done with it, but something in him told him not to. Some recess of his mind told Fell to keep the little Blueberry around. At least until he found a more...appropriate way of getting rid of him. No, this was a great idea.  
  
Fell always wanted a pet.  
  
A smile crossed the dark Papyrus's face at the thought. Unlike his own brother who Fell had social obligation to keep alive and well for face sake, Blueberry wasn't known by anyone. Fell could torture him, break him, in ways he could never do to Red, though he always dreamed of it. This plan quickly took over Fell's unredeemable mind until it made his smile grow even wickeder.  
  
Blue must have taken the smile as a sign that Fell believed his story because he relaxed once it was present. That feeling of relief in Blue turned to one of dread pretty quick, though. One of Fell's gloved hands went towards Blue, snaking around his neck bones before any more could be said or done. Blueberry yelped and scratched at Fell's hand without much luck in his endeavor to get free.  
  
"I GUESS I SHOULD OFFER SOME SORT OF ACOMIDATION FOR OUR GUEST, HM?" Fell gave his brother a seeming innocent smile, but Red saw the intent and felt a shiver run down his spine, "AFTER ALL, IT'S AN AWFULLY LONG WAY TO WATERFALL. YOU MUST BE TIRED, LET ME SHOW YOU TO THE GUEST ROOM."  
  
For a moment, Blue thought Fell was being serious and this was some kind of weird way of showing curtesy in this world, but for only that moment. No, he knew that tone from his own Papyrus. It was sarcasm if Blue ever heard it, and deadly sarcasm at that. The small skeleton tried to summon his magic, but it refused to do as he asked. Even when his life was threatened, Blue couldn't hurt someone. He mentally lectured himself while still struggling against the harsh grip.  
  
Fell almost laughed at the absolute helplessness evident in Blue's attempts to kick him. This would be fun. He even got to start over from scratch with a more innocent victim this time. No one from this timeline would fight back like Blue, they would have at least tried to kill Fell, but the monster in Fell's hand couldn't even force himself to inflict harm. What a fucking loser.  
  
Maybe if it hadn't been for Fell's broken night stand or Red's incompetence the day before or a multitude of things that could have gone down differently, Fell wouldn't even think about it, he would have simply killed Blue, end of story. There was really no need for these antics, but today, Fell was extra sadistic. He felt he deserved something for everything he had put up with in the past few weeks, including his brother practically attempting suicide last night. This would be Fell's reward. He couldn't care less if that was any bit true or if Blue was indeed just a monster lost in a universe where he shouldn't even be a thought, Fell was going to have fun breaking his new toy. He was never one to be careful with them in the first place.  
  
The lanky skeleton stood straight, dragging Blue off the couch on his way up. Blue gave another yelp, pulling desperately at the hand on his throat to no avail. With two steps, Fell was at the basement door and three more brought him all the way into the dark, underneath of his home that had been turned into a torture room. Different sets of shackles lined the walls, each set placed in a different way. There was a metal chair sitting in one corner out of the way with leather straps on the arm rests and an old bed without coverings in the opposite corner, rusted chains set on top attached to the head rest. Several rolling metal tables were strewn about, each with different, terrifying instruments set on top of them with no real organization. One table that caught Blueberry's attention was one that had several different length whips set carelessly on it.  
  
Red, who had followed his brother downstairs, reluctantly, cringed at the sight. This was the place of most of his nightmares. Every time his brother got something new for down here, he would be sure to test it on Red first and for most.  
  
The timid skeleton reassured himself that he wasn't the one Fell was going to hurt, and was grateful for the change, but also felt something else. It ate at his soul like some sort of virus. Maybe pity? No, it was different. It was something Red couldn't recognize, something that he didn't normally feel. Red set aside the thought when his brother stopped and chained Blue up to the wall, leaving him sitting in a very uncomfortable position before standing himself and turning to Red.  
  
"I HAVE ROYAL GUARD DUTIES TODAY. DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID, SANS." Fell started up the stairs, Red hurrying after him.  
  
"what about him?"  
  
"I DON'T CARE. JUST DON'T TOUCH HIM. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH MY THINGS." Fell didn't stop walking.  
  
"i'm not your 'thing'!" Blue protested.  
  
Fell gave a low chuckle before slamming the basement door close behind himself. Oh, the little fucker would pay for that tonight.  
  
Gaining a cautious glance from Red, Blue let his head fall. Was he really so weak to be capture by another version of his own brother? Surely he could do something. Yeah, Blue wouldn't get down on himself! He test wiggled his arms, only finding that the shackles were tighter than he anticipated. No worries, the magnificent Sans would not be deterred just because it was a little harder than originally assumed! Continuing further in his effort, Blueberry only managed to rub his wrists raw and got a sad chuckle out of Red.  
  
"geez, kid," Red sighed, making Blue jump as he had forgotten the other was even there, "you're not getting out of there that easily."  
  
"i'm not a kid!" Blue argued.  
  
"just give up. that's what i did." Red shook his head and teleported out of the basement and into the living room. He had work today, didn't want to pull his brother out of his good mood today. Blue was left alone to his thoughts, which was only the start of his torturous experience here chained to the wall of the Underfell brothers' basement wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Red isn't very good with his feelings...maybe that's a good thing ouo


	3. Cherry Learns a New Word

Somehow, Blueberry had managed to fall asleep in the Underfell brothers' basement. Though he was never one for midday naps, especially when he knew he really showed stay awake, but he had no energy left and the soothing silence was enough to put anyone to sleep, regardless of circumstance.

Well, maybe not anyone. Red, for instance had not once, ever, slept in the basement. Even when he was kept in there for and entire week when he tried running away the first time. So, when Red came home that afternoon and found their 'guest' fast asleep in that awkward position, saying he was impressed was an understatement. How could someone, another version of Red, possibly think it was safe to sleep in a torture chamber? How could Blue not see what he was in for today after what he said to Fell? Red had learned fast to never disagree with his brother.

Red couldn't stay in the basement for long, not when he knew what was to come. He didn't think he could watch himself be abused. Even thinking about it brought a bad taste to Red's mouth and there was that pesky feeling again. Whatever it was. Red teleported back to the living room, finding that the door was already opening from Fell's entrance.

"b-boss, you're home early." Red stumbled over his words, trying to hide that he just used his magic. He wasn't supposed to use it unless he had specific authorization from his brother.

"YES, I DECIDED THOSE DOGS COULD HANDLE THE DUST PILES, NOT LIKE KEEPING TRACK OF THAT SHIT WAS MY JOB ANYWAY." Fell hadn't actually trusted the dogs with the job, but he figured there were enough dust piles that still were unfound, what would be a few more? Besides, he wanted to teach Blue manners tonight.

"r-right..." Red shuffled his feet, moving aside when Fell swept passed him to the basement door.

Fell grabbed Red by the hood to look him in the eye, "OH, I'M SORRY, BUT I DO NEED A DEMONSTRATOR. YOU'LL HAVE TO DO I GUESS."

Red took in a sharp breath that was truly unnecessary considering he didn't have lungs. He had hoped to get away for the night, but guess it wasn't that easy. Fell dragged him down the basement steps, huffed at the sleeping Blueberry, then chained Red to the wall as well. Red looked down, not wanting his counterpart to see him in such a pathetic state. He was stronger than this, he should be fighting back, but a small piece of Red still thought Fell could be better. Even that part of Red's mind knew that was impossible, but hope wasn't so easy to get rid of when you had once been so close.

A loud clank could be heard with each of Fell's agonizing steps. The skeleton stopped right in front of Blue who was still somehow asleep. He raised a hand that was glowing red from magic and summoned a single bone attack in the air.

"WAKE UP!" the bone flew from Fell's side and hit the wall hard just above Blueberry's head.

Blue's eye sockets immediately shot open and he whimpered when he noticed how close he had been to death. Fell smiled at the reaction. It really wasn't something he could get from Red. Red would have just shoved off the fact that Fell had legitimately aimed an attack at him and probably would have stayed asleep. Not Blue he had never been so close to being killed. In his universe, the biggest threat to anyone was Muffet when someone stole from her and even that wouldn't end in death, though Muffet made it sound as though she would kill somebody if she had to.  
  
Fell bent down to look over Blue. He had the same basic structure as Red, though there were less scars on his frame and he was definitely smaller by a few good inches. He also had a different colored magic, blue rather than red. Fell assumed that would be what he would call Blueberry if he needed to call him by a name. Blue Sans. That would sound like crazy talk to anyone else in this universe, but to Fell, it fit.  
  
So would the new collar he had picked up on his way home.  
  
"I BROUGHT YOU SOMETHING." Fell's voice was so sickly sweet, Blue almost thought it was something nice. Fell pulled the spiked, leather collar out of his pocket, though it was anyone's guess how he got it in there in the first place. He roughly pulled it tight around Blue's neck bones and hooked it in a manor that he knew Blue couldn't undo on his own, even with two free hands. Fell was practiced in these things after all, he knew how to put a simple collar on. "THERE WE GO." he hummed, attaching a thick leash to the collar so he could easily maneuver Blue to his whim.  
  
"DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT YOUSAID TO ME THIS MORNING?" Fell whispered, though it still echoed in the quiet basement.  
  
"y-yes!" Blue regained a bit of confidence, pulling himself together and struggling against his binds again, "i-im not your property! you n-need to let me go this instant!" Blue tried desperately to sound demanding.  
  
Fell scoffed, "DO YOU KNOW NO MANNERS, AFTER WHAT I'VE DONE FOR YOU; GIVEN YOU A PLACE TO SLEEP, ACCEPTED YOU INTO MY HOME, GOTTEN YOU A PRESENT EVEN, YOU STILL WISH TO SPEAK TO ME IN SUCH A DISRESPECTFUL MANNER?" Blueberry gulped as Fell pulled on his leash more, "I GUESS I NEED TO TEACH HOW TO TREAT OTHERS, HUH?"  
  
A firm hand clenched around Blue's arm, squeezing hard enough to snap his radius. He screamed at the sudden pain. It wasn't enough to impact his hp, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. With a sadistic chuckle, Fell moved his hand up to Blue's humerus and pulled down hard, stopping only when he heard the familiar scrapping of bone against bone signaling that the bone had been popped out of place. Another cry escaped Blue's lips and Red clenched his fists at the gut retching sound.  
  
Redbone marrow pooled on the ground from the break in Blue's radius. The sobs that escaped Blue lips wouldn't stop and he wished he could coddle his injury, but didn't risk pulling on his restraints for fear he'd only hurt himself further.  
  
"YOU SEE NOW THAT YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T TALK BACK TO ME?" Fell said and Blue could only nod his head in a half-hearted response. This dissatisfied Fell, "I DON'T THINK YOU DO. BUT I'LL GLADLY CHANGE THAT."  
  
Fell stood and sauntered over the Red. He pulled his brothers face up to meet his own. "STRIP." Red didn't hesitate his brother's order, only hoped that it would be quick.  
  
Blue couldn't bring himself to watch. He knew what was going to happen. Sure, Pappy had been careful to keep Blue innocent, but he had been on the internet far too much to not have come across what sex was. He also knew this was called rape.  
  
The sound of pained moans soon filled the basement as Fell roughly thrust into Red until Red was a sweaty mess on the floor. Nonetheless, Fell was unsatisfied and turned to Blue, a shit-eating grin on his face.  
  
Blue was forced to look up at Fell was his pants were pulled from his body. He yelled and squirmed until he was slapped across the face, "QUIET!" Blue didn't listen to the command and continued to thrash around like a fish out of water. Fell grabbed a rag from the floor and tied it around Blue's head, using it as a gag. Blue continued to make muffled whines nonetheless. That was fine with Fell, he would give Blue something to whine about.  
  
Fell forced Blueberry's shirt up so he could explore Blue's ribs. It was all the same as Red's, same sensitive spots, same curvature, same rib cage, same spine. Something that was different, though, was Blue's soul. Instead of Red's, well, red soul, Blue had a blue one. This intrigued Fell and he decided he would start with that.  
  
The smaller skeleton gasped harshly into his gag when his soul was retched out of it's normal place and was fondled roughly. A claw ran down the side of the blue soul, making it's owner quiver from the attention. Blue stiffened and threw his head back as Fell took the glowing heart into his mouth and ran his tongue along it. Had Blueberry actually wanted this, he could imagine it would feel absolutely amazing, but, as it stood, Fell did this without Blue's consent. This was invasive, wrong, and above all unpleasant. Blue's heart stopped though when Fell swallowed.  
  
Ignoring the gag entirely, Blue screamed around it as loud as his voice could muster. The overwhelming pain left his head swimming and he thought he was dying. Of course, Fell couldn't actually ingest the soul and it filtered out of his body and back into Blue's chest, but Blue continued to scream as the pain remained. He was trembling uncontrollably and tears were streaking down his face faster than he could produce magic to dye them blue, most of them coming out clear instead. By the time Blue lost his voice from the screaming, the rag had come undone and laid on the cold hard floor next to his foot.  
  
Red had only just managed to look at Blue. He now knew what he had been feeling when he had been glad Blue would be getting the brunt of Fell's torture.  
  
_**Guilt**_


	4. Sorry's a Strong Word...

Fell had hardly waited for Blue's soul to get back in his rib cage before moving to grab his lowest rib forcefully. When he gave it a hard tug, Blue's hoarse scream turned into an almost gross sob. Big blue tears didn't stop snaking down his face, even though he didn't have enough magic to keep it up much longer. Fell snapped his lowest rib clean off, causing more pain to wash over Blue. He couldn't even tell if he was screaming anymore or really what was happening.

One thought Blueberry could cling to, though, was his old motto, "everyone can be a good person." He didn't know why, but a part of Blue wanted to believe that Fell could change. In this moment when that thought should really be the opposite, Blue believed that one thing the most. He guessed it was all keeping him sane. This terrible version of his brother was hurting him, torturing him, Blue should hate him. But he couldn't.

It was still a Papyrus, still his brother, even if another version. Even if crueler, sharper, less lazy, it was still Papyrus and no Papyrus could be 100% evil. Right? No, Blue was wrong. Some people couldn't change. The pain continued, the dizziness and felling of dying continued, Blue was a mess on the cold hard floor.

Blood red marrow covered Blueberry and Fell both. Fell moved on to break several more of Blue's bones, including his spine and pelvis, which were the two that probably hurt the most. After what felt like hours, most of which Blue blacked out for, Fell was finally satisfied and left Blue on the floor without bothering to heal him. If Blue died, well, it wasn't Fell's fault he was so weak. The tall skeleton moved over to Red and unlocked his chains.

"I GOING TO BED, DON'T WAKE ME." Fell warned before leaving the basement.

It took Red a few moments to mentally prepare himself for what he might see. With one last deep breath, he turned over and immediately felt himself convulse. Holy crap, he actually wished _this_ onto someone? Blue was losing several ribs, his soul was very dull, his face was stained badly from his tears, and Red didn't want to know what Fell had done to his lower half to make it look so bad. He wasn't going to grace that shit with a description.

Red stood and slowly walked to Blue's front, sure to give the very hurt skeleton his space. He'd be damned if Blue jumped at his approaching and hurt himself further.

Oh God, Blue was worse from the front. He was doing his best to keep himself in a tight ball, but was probably doing more damage that way. Red didn't blame him. He was violated, hurt, and more than likely cold. He sighed and moved a step closer.

If Blue could find his voice, he would have said, "stay away!" but, as it was, his voice wasn't working. Instead, he gave a pained little whine and curled up further.

"look, i'm gonna heal you. just hold still."

Blue eased slightly and allowed Red to come close. The slightly bigger skeleton winced when he saw everything up close. That had to hurt. Everything told Red to say "i'm sorry" to the poor guy, but the words wouldn't come out. They burned the back of his throat and caused his soul to crawl. He wanted to say it so bad, but saying it and meaning it were two different things. He said he was sorry all the time, to Fell, but he had never meant it. Those sorry's meant nothing to Fell or Red. If he said it now, he would mean it, and if he meant it, it would mean promising Blue something and Red couldn't promise him freedom without death.

So, Red said nothing as he slowly healed Blue's wounds to the point where they wouldn't kill him and wouldn't hurt. The marks were still there, though. Fell would be madder if the marks weren't there the next time he came down here.

Blue tried to say "thank you" but it again came out as a hoarse whine. Red could read between the lines, though and knew what he meant.

"no sweat, kid." Red said as he stood and started out of the basement. He couldn't say anymore without breaking out in tears because of it.

Normally, Blue would protest being called "kid", but couldn't do much of anything at the moment. He was almost asleep when he heard the basement door close and then someone sobbing.

"i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm so sorry!" Red cried as softly as he could as to not wake Fell, "god, please, don't make me watch myself die! i'm sorry, blue, i'm so, so sorry."

Red couldn't take watching his own death, even if it technically wasn't his. He could handle the pain, he could handle anything so long as he didn't have to see it being done to himself, especially an innocent version of himself. There weren't many good people in Underfell and those that were good were hiding away from the rest or were being hunted down. If you believed in mercy, you were weak. Everyone knew that.

Except Blueberry.

Why, out of all the different Sans from all the different universes, did it have to be Blueberry that got stuck here. Red would probably be fine with any other Sans being hurt because any other Sans would have fought back by now. Blue had had the chance to fight Fell, to kill Fell, but he didn't even try to hurt the tall skeleton. He hadn't summoned his magic in the basement to protect himself, even when he was hurt, even when his soul was...

Red had to put a hand over his mouth remembering what Fell had done to Blue's soul. Your soul was your most precious possession. Someone touching your soul meant a great deal and you had to either really trust the person or be completely defenseless to protest. Blue had neither, even though his magic should have kicked in the moment his soul was no longer in his body, but it didn't. It should have kicked in when Fell touched it, but it didn't. It should have obliterated Fell when he put that Goddamned soul in his mouth, but Blue's magic refused. And Fell had the audacity to _swallow_ it!

Red couldn't breath for a moment from anger, but once that passed all he had left was a deep set guilt that weighed him down. He couldn't do anything to help Blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I don't know if anyone's really interested, but I have a Tumblr blog that hasn't gotten any use. If you want you can check it out!  
> http://inlovewithundertale.tumblr.com/


	5. Some Blueberry Popping

Red kept his head down the next morning. He stayed busy in his room, pretending to clean it so Fell would leave him alone. Since Fell had the day off, he was staying home, playing with his toy downstairs, making Red wish he had gotten those sound proof walls put in all those years ago when he had the chance. He tried desperately to tune out the gruesome sounds of his own cries, but failed and ended up sitting on his bed, rocking back and forth while his mind traveled to places he thought he had long since locked away.

In the basement, Blue was hardly awake when Fell came down. He was rudely jostled out of his half asleep state once Fell looked over his body at the slightly healed wounds.

"SO, YOU HAD ENOUGH ENERGY TO HEAL YOURSELF LAST NIGHT, HM?" Fell grabbed Blue's chin and forced him to look up into his eyes, "THAT WON'T BE HAPPENING AGAIN."

Fell's hand gripped Blue's wrist, forcefully pulling it down so Blue's fingers spread themselves against the strain, his shackles still holding fast. Blueberry's tired body gave a sad little yelp, his voice still not quite back to normal. A smile played back of Fell's face like a broken CD skipping back to a different scene as his other hand moved from Blue's jaw to grasp one of his phalanges. It didn't take much for Fell to push it back and snap it, leaving it bent at a very odd angle to move to the next one. Blue cried softly at the numb pain. He hardly had enough magic to form tears, let alone turn them blue, and they slid down his face the same color as water droplets.

This only made Fell happier. See this skeleton in such a broken state made jolts of pleasure shoot through Fell's non-existent veins. Blue was a mess under Fell's hands; a crumpled, trembling, crying, injured mess that couldn't process thought through his terror and pain. Fell savored the joy that came from inflicting that upon him.

His fingers were a mess before Blueberry realized he was hurt. Yes, his body knew full well he was hurt, but his mind did not. He could have used some kind of mental boost today, but figured asking for that would mean worse things, in this timeline, than black coffee. Just the thought coffee reminded Blue of the way Pappy would always fill his cup with honey before pour the warm dark liquid on top. Blue always asked if he wanted some coffee with his honey, but Pappy didn't find the joke as funny as Blue did. He missed joking with his brother. It had only been a few days, but all Blue wanted to do was hug his brother, tell him how grateful he was to have him as a brother and no one else. As it stood now, Blue didn't even know if he could go home.

Blue noted how low his magic supply was at the moment. What he wouldn't give for a taco right about now, or even a pastry from Muffet's, he didn't care what it was, he needed food. The few thoughts Blue could keep going in his mind kept him from completely blacking out, but his vision would darken and lighten at random intervals and he knew that was bad. His soul didn't have the nutrients it needed to maintain Blueberry.

Fell continued down Blue's arms, causing little bruises to appear as he pulled the limbs at odd angles and pushed into the bone roughly. Finally, realizing his play thing was low on energy, Fell pumped magic into Blue's heart, which felt like a thousand needles pricking him nonsensically right in the soul. It probably would have hurt less if Fell had let Blue be, but since when did Fell care that he was hurting someone? He knew exactly what he was doing and was doing it willingly. Fell wanted this more than anything else, that was the only reason Blue was even still alive in the first place.  
  
A low chuckle escaped the taller skeleton's mouth, making Blue almost forget he wasn't in his timeline with how alike the laugh was to his own brother, and Fell started to message Blue's spine violently. Blue whimpered from the sudden feeling of Fell's fingers exploring his more sensitive areas. Fell also managed to pull Blue's pants free from his lower half, but they caught on Blue's broken piece of Blue's fibula. He tore them from the bone, causing Blue to hiss in pain and the pants to tear all the way up to the waistband. Oh well, not Fell's problem.  
  
As the pants were discarded off to the side, Fell allowed himself to pay closer attention to Blue's pelvis. The simple touch of one of Fell's fingers to Blueberry's pelvis was enough to make the smaller skeleton's back straighten in an attempt to shy away. His mind was racing. Blue didn't want this, he wanted to go home and be safe, anything but this! He didn't want this, he didn't want this, _he didn't want this_.  
  
Blue's magic worked against him though and created a simple, rudimentary glowing blue entrance for Fell in between Blue's legs. Fell frowned at the crude excuse for a pussy. Blue really hadn't ever had this kind of experience before, Fell almost laughed at the thought.  
  
"YOU REALLY WON'T BEING NEEDING THIS ANYMORE." Fell teased as one of his fingers slid inside of the opening making Blue gasp, "I GUESS I'M DOING YOU A FAVOR. NOW YOU WON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BEING LAUGHED AT BECAUSE YOU'RE A VIRGIN. OH, WAIT, NO PEOPLE WILL PROBABLY BE MORE DISGUSTED BY THE FACT YOU LOST IT UNINTENTIONAL."  
  
The small skeleton couldn't process coherent thought, only bits and pieces. He didn't like this, he knew it was wrong. He wanted it to stop, it needed to stop! Blueberry needed to fight back! But...he couldn't. He was too depleted and, even if he could summon an attack, Blue wouldn't have had the heart to attack anyone. This was still his brother, even though Blue knew he needed to stop defending the monster. It was a terrible dilemma.  
  
The look of defeat on Blue's face was all Fell needed to start his next bit of torture. He unzipped the front of his pants allowing the dark orange bulge that had being growing there out into the open. Fell positioned himself behind Blue and thrust forward without warning. A scream hitched in Blue's throat, but freed itself when Fell pushed in again. Blue cried out, going between sobbing and yelling for it to stop with every other breath. This was something he could truly never get back, something he wished with everything that he had that he could tune it out. That wouldn't happen.  
  
After what was probably only a few minutes, but felt like an eternity, Fell pushed himself deep into Blue, releasing himself. Blueberry also hit his climax, but instead of a pleasured moan like Fell had given, he yelped before falling back down completely exhausted. He hadn't known he could be this low on magic and still alive. His soul gave a dangerously sharp beat and Blue knew something was direly wrong.  
  
Something was ringing from upstairs and Fell grumbled as he left, not even caring that Blueberry could probably die at any moment. He probably didn't care. Blue didn't care anymore. Maybe Red was right, maybe he should have given up, allowed himself to die the first time this happened. If he hadn't been clinging so desperately to life last night, maybe he could have ended it there, fallen into the sweet nothingness of death.  
  
But he was scared. Scared of death, scared of nothing, scared of never saying goodbye to those who cared about him the most. Were they worried now? Were they looking for him? Blue stopped his thoughts when the image of how disappointed Pappy would be if he knew what happened to him. He couldn't even protect himself, how could he call himself a guard ever with any form of dignity? He couldn't, not now, anyway.  
  
He lied there, unmoving, unthinking. There was nothing left for him to do. Sure, his soul being fondled was terrible, invasive, and it hurt more than anything else Blue could think of when it was swallowed, but that had been quick. Blueberry might have bounced back from that without much problem. It wasn't as if Fell had searched his soul, which Blue knew was the most intimate thing two monsters could do together. This, though, was something he couldn't allow himself to bounce back to. Now, everything about his soul being violated was ten times worse. This was it, he was done. He didn't want to live anymore. Not when he knew this was all he'd get out of living. He silently resigned himself for death and mentally said goodbye to everyone from his world before falling completely into a dark void he couldn't get back out of.


	6. Mercy? I Thought that was Dead...

_Ring, Ring_ "I'M COMING, I'M COMING." Fell grumbled as he walked through the living room towards the kitchen where the phone lied. Fell ignored the dust and marrow on his hands as he picked up the receiver and put it up to the side of his skull so he could properly hear the monster on the other end, "WHAT?"  
  
His voice was annoyed and a bit scratchy, a sign that he was going to strangle the monster who dared to call him on his day off. Doggo replied stiffly, "S-sir! We have spotted a rebel group near the cavern wall east of the Ruins door. We need you to come down and officiate the 'extraction' of these monsters."  
  
The skeleton growled low in his throat. He really didn't understand why there were such stupid laws left considering most people didn't follow them. The only reason the Guard did was because Asgore could claim them responsible. Of course, Fell would have been fine just saying "I DON'T CARE. KILL THEM." but then they would know something was off and probably think it was a good idea to attack him, which it wasn't, but the nuisance would keep him from focusing for the next week. Fell liked that no one messed with him, he had no intention of giving them a basic free pass to try stupid shit.  
  
"ALRIGHT, I'LL HEAD THERE NOW." Fell rubbed the bridge of his nasal cavity and hung up, forcefully bringing down the set so a small dent appeared on its bottom. He didn't mind it, though. He moore than likely would blame Red for that later, but now he needed to leave.  
  
As much as Fell didn't necessarily want to see his brother, he had to tell him he was going to be gone for a few days. He also had to warn Red that he wouldn't go searching for his dust if he wound up dead.  
  
"SANS!" Fell hardly waited for his brother to shuffle into the room before continuing, "I'M GOING ON A HUNT. DON'T COUNT ON ME HOME ANYTIME SOON."  
  
Red nodded, feeling a sense of relief knowing that the other version of him would be safe for a while. Wait, why did he care? He had seen monsters die before, heck he couldn't care less if any other Sans died, again, though, this one was different. Man, Red should really get his act together before he ended up doing something that would make Fell mad. Like freeing Blue.  
  
Shaking the thoughts out of his head, Red went to the window as Fell slammed the door close. He watched his brother until Fell was far enough away that nothing more could be seen of him. Red knew better than to do anything before Fell was well out of sight. The last time he did, Fell had forgotten something and found Red feasting on his stash of mustard packets. Red never did learn what Fell had done to them, just knew he'd never see them again.  
  
Again, Fell's thoughts were brought back to Blueberry. Maybe he should go check on him, bring him some food or something. Fell wouldn't get mad about that, would he? Red guessed not, but was still hesitant. What would he see in the basement? Was Blue even still alive? This was a bad idea, he knew he should just go to his room and be lazy while he could, if he went downstairs, he might do something he'd regret.  
  
But if he didn't go down would Blue...? Red forcefully shook his head. He would never be able to relax if he didn't go down there and just look. If there was only dust left, so be it. At least Red didn't have to see it happen. Sucking in a breath, Red resolved to indeed going down. He promised himself he'd do nothing to harm nor help the small monster and that would be enough to keep him from doing anything stupid.  
  
The basement door creaked and Red stuck his head in just enough to look around. It didn't take long for him to spot Blueberry. The smaller skeleton had his head hung and eye sockets closed as if he was asleep, but Red squinted his eyes to look closer at the thing glowing in front of him. Realization swallowed Red and he almost tumbled back trying to yank the door open. It slammed hard against the wall as Red took the stair six at a time, slipping only once and giving up on running to just teleport to Blue's side.  
  
Floating lazily in front of Blue was a pale blue heart with a long, black crack running through its middle as if someone had cracked it intentionally. That wasn't true, though. No, Blue was falling down.  
  
Hands shaking, Red lightly touched Blue and teleported him to his room, leaving the chains to clank against the basement wall with nothing in them. Blue was gently laid back as Red inspected his fragile soul, careful not to touch it. It was depleted of energy and Red knew it needed nutrients before he tried to coax it back to life. Using his magic again, Red teleported down to the kitchen, throwing open the fridge. Most of the edible stuff in there was marked "Papyrus" but Red knew he could steal some of the food from further back in the fridge. Fell wouldn't know the difference if Red moved things around slightly to make it look normal.  
  
He didn't have time for that now! Red teleported back to his room, not caring that he left the fridge open. It luckily closed with the gust that sprung from Red's magic. Looking over Blue, Red had absolutely no idea how he was going to get him to eat this. Blue was unconscious, he couldn't even open his mouth and there was no way to make him swallow it. Red had heard that you could just put whatever into a person's mouth while sleeping and plug their nose to make them down it for air. What little good that did for skeletons, Blue didn't need to breath!  
  
He resorted to an old trick he had seen before. Well, it was actually used on him a few times but Fell, but he hoped to make it a little less terrifying and painful. Slowly, he rolled some cold spaghetti onto his finger, since he forgot a fork, and dangled the end close to Blue's soul. Red was glad that Blue was not awake because watching your own soul eat was pretty disgusting. Red had even puked up everything after the first time he did this just because of how it looked. And felt.  
  
Of course, Blue being asleep probably help with the sticky, slimy texture of food entering your soul directly, but Red continually repeated "i'm sorry" in his head as more of the noodles were devoured, disappearing into the pale blue part of the soul. The crack still sent shivers down Red's spine, but at least there was a better hue surrounding the aching heart. Red feed the soul directly two more times, stopping after that because he knew too much would overwhelm him. At least there was no longer the threat of Blue running out of magic. Now to handle that crack.  
  
Before Red could even start, a heart retching _crrk!_ made him look down at Blue's soul. The split was bigger.


	7. A Field of Blue

What felt like an eternity past before Red could fully comprehend the situation. Blue was dying, he was watching, and there was nothing he could do once Blue's heart broke. Usually, it would be recommended that you talk to the monster, get them to realize there's more to life and that they will survive, but how was that possible when Blue couldn't hear anything. When the crack was smaller, Red was sure it would be safe to use his magic to mend it, but now? It was too big. All that extra magic could be just as harmful to as the crack itself.

"oh god, oh god," Red put a hand to his mouth. What had he done? One more jostle and there was no saving the smaller skeleton and unless the crack was mended, it would just progressively get worse.

Red contemplated just killing Blue now, so there would be no pain left for him to endure, but Red couldn't bring himself to do it. All those times he had been so close to death, so willing to kill himself, but not like this! Not when he saw his old happiness still lingering in the deepest recesses of Blue's heart. No, he resolved, he was going to save Blue, regardless the consequences. He knew exactly one way to fix this at this late a stage without further hurting Blue, but it would risk Red's life. And any trust Blue had left.  
  
Heaving one last sigh, Red placed a hand several inches above Blue's soul. He was going to use his magic to connect their souls long enough for him to safely find Blue. If this worked, Blue would be safe, but if it didn't, well, Red wasn't going to dwell on that. If he got hurt during this, Red would take it onto himself as punishment for everything he had ever done in his life. It surely wasn't enough, but it was all he could offer to the world he scorned.  
  
Flakes of red magic stitched with green floated down as gentle as snowfall in the spring, dusting Blue's soul. Red's soul drifted out of his rib cage, the dark red, marred soul looked nothing like Blue's, and yet they were similar in some strange way. The red soul orbited the cracked one, a shield of sorts to protect the other. With his eyes now closed, Red allowed his magic to pull him into Blue.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Opening his eyes, Red stood in an open field, flowers and rays of what he could only assume was Blue's interpretation of the sun filled the open air making the wide open space that would normally terrify Red seem safe. A dark tree line that seemed more fascinating than ominous surrounded the open area and seemed to go on forever. Looking closer, the grass and flowers were all tainted a light blue color, they trusted that no one would destroy them. It was a scene Red knew Fell would love destroying.  
  
Well, Fell already did.  
  
A large, black cloud loomed over the very middle of the field, killing the flowers there and threatening to span out. If it did, it would find Blue's core and engulf it, killing it like everything else. That was what it meant to fall down. You lost your core.  
  
Technically speaking, your soul was terrible for you. It slowly killed you, that was how age worked, anyway. The magic in your soul fought for freedom and it's way to that was through your core, your sense of being, but something always stopped it. A very small amount of determination was present in every monsters core. As you got older, that determination would get weaker and eventually collapse, leading to a usually peaceful death. Boss monsters didn't have this problem because their determination stems stayed strong until they had children to worry about.  
  
In a case of falling down, it was when your core gave up on living and allowed the determination to wane, allowing magic to start eating away at you. It was like you were living with your own death twenty four seven and no one could save you once it said it was time.  
  
Of course, monsters still needed magic nonetheless, to keep their bodies working and other such things. Red always thought of it as "keeping it around just leads to a slower death." It was less painful, he had to admit. Blue's magic had gotten into Blue's core protector and was now chipping away at it. Red needed to find Blue's core, and fast.  
  
As Red wandered the side of Blue's core protector that he had woken up on, he took in as much beauty as he would allow himself to. Looking around too much would allow him to see Blue's memories, parts of Blue that should never be seen by anyone but Blue. His thoughts, his words, his life sprawled out in front of Red and the skeleton did everything he could to not mess with it.  
  
Some time into his exploration, Red started to hear some kind of relieved laughter, "pappy! you're here, you're really here!"  
  
Red turned to see Blue hugging a Papyrus tightly around the waist. It was definitely not Red's brother, considering the large orange jacket, but Red flinched nonetheless. He was about to turn and leave, thinking this was just a memory until he noticed that this Blue was more solid than everything else and he was able to see everything in third person, like this was the first time this happened. Usually memories came up in a first person orientation with Red being in Blue's place, but this was different. This was Blue's core.  
  
"OF COURSE, BRO. I PROMISED TO ALWAYS BE THERE, DIDN'T I?" Pappy said, a grin on his face with his sockets closed.  
  
"sans." Red said carefully. He didn't want to scare the poor guy.  
  
It was too late for that, though. The moment Blue saw his red counterpart, he jumped behind Pappy, obviously very scared. Blue didn't know he was dying yet, he thought this was all really happening. But, his dream rendition of Papyrus did.  
  
"HE'S NOT HERE TO HURT YOU SANS." Pappy looked back at Blue.  
  
"w-what?" Blue returned a questioning glance to Pappy.  
  
"you're dying, sans, i'm here to take you back." Red tried.  
  
"no!" Blue cried, "i don't wanna go back! i don't care if i die, i don't care if this is all a dream! leave me alone!"  
  
"BRO," Pappy leaned down to Sans' height, "I'M NOT REAL. YOU NEED TO GO HOME, TO YOUR OWN PAPYRUS. NOT ME. I'M NOT HIM."  
  
"i don't wanna go back..." Blueberry was sobbing into dream Papyrus' hoodie, not looking up.  
  
Red was angered by this. Not by the fact that Blue was crying, nor by the fact that he didn't want to go, but by the fact his brother, Fell, did this to Blue. He broke him. Red's anger was quickly miss directed towards Blue.  
  
"do you know that that cloud over there is going to kill you?" Red shook his head in rage, "it's going to obliterate this place with you still here! your brother, your papyrus is probably worried sick about you. he's probably tearing himself apart not knowing where you are. you're going to leave him like that? Remember the good things, when your brother would hug you after you did something good, when you got the house and you knew there would be no more worrying about where you would sleep that night, everything good that has ever come to you. you're willing to throw that all away? i would cherish that like a precious jewel! i thought we had that much in common." Red boiled down.  
  
Blue watched him with wide, tear stained eye sockets. Those weren't his exact experiences, but Blue remembered. This really wasn't his brother. No, it was just what Blue had seen of him. The figure acted the way Blue anticipated Pappy would. There were no subtle differences in each of his movements, no small side glances at the woods for anyone happening to see the exchange. Only what Blue knew from him.  
  
"GET HIM HOME, WILL YOU?" Pappy said to Red before disappearing. Blue was worried for a moment than looked back at Red.  
  
"i-i don't wanna go back there." he said again, falling to his knees. Blue wanted to go home, to go to Pappy. He wanted the warmth of Pappy's hoodie, the ever present small of honey, all the things he associated with the name "Papyrus". He didn't want Fell.  
  
"i know. my papyrus doesn't deserve you, my universe doesn't deserve you, but i promise to get you home if you just trust me enough to keep you safe till then."  
  
Blue nodded, taking Red's hand that had been held open to help him back to his feet. The dark sky grew a bit brighter as the two disembarked from the field.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all were asking for US! Paps, so here he is! Oh you wanted him to be real? Oh well, it's already said and done!


	8. A Blueberry Saved by a Cherry

When Blue opened his eyes, he was in a strange room. It looked relatively like his own, the same size, the same placing of everything, but it was also very different. There was hardly anything in the room besides junk and the furnishing that was visible was stripped of anything personal. The bed, for example, that Blueberry was lying on had no sheets and the mattress was old and wore. A small, broken desk sat parallel to the bed, not unlike Blue's own room, and the window had bars on it.

Another thing he noted was just how tired he was. Blue's body only wanted sleep, but his mind was racing. His hands weren't chained, the door was open. Maybe he could make a run for it? He couldn't tell if what he dreamed about really happened or not, but Blue assumed looking at his soul would give him the answer. As feared, a small, scar like shape ran down his soul. It was a darker blue than the rest of his heart and the very middle was still black. Yep, not a dream. definitely not a dream.

That meant...oh God, Red had been in his soul! Blue didn't even want to know what Red was able to see in his time there, what embarrassing secrets he now held. And that promise...

"sans?" Blue questioned, finding how weird it was to call his own name.

With no response, Blue tried to look around, only to find he was still incredibly hurt. Obviously, his cracked soul had been top priority to Red, which he was grateful for, but Blue wished he hadn't woken up still unable to move. Instead of moving his body, Blue turned his head more to see the rest of the room in clarity. Red was on the floor next to the bed passed out, his own soul seeming to be shattering.

"o-o-o-oh my god! w-wake up! please, wake up! sans! sans!" Blue was frantic, trying to swing his arm over to nudge Red to no avail. This was bad.

Blue had never seen a soul that had fallen down, so he could only assume that's what happened to Red, though he wished it wasn't true. What else could have happened? Was Red injured? Did he need medical assistance? Blue couldn't get up, he couldn't do anything, even if he did know how to handle the situation, which he didn't. Forcing himself to move was out of the question as Blue had already tried. Magic wasn't an option, as he was pretty spent. What could Blue do? What should he do?

The skeleton was resolved to start screaming for help when Red stirred. Red had turned flat onto his back and an arm was over his sockets. Forced magic circled his soul in a very painful effort, but Red had to do it. He had to wrap his soul back up so it wouldn't shatter. Without magic, his body would be off no use to him. Making several pained noises during the process, Red finished the fine layer of magic over his soul. It would hurt like a motherfucker for the next two days and he'd have to keep an eye on it to be sure he didn't accidentally get into a state where he could fall down, but he wouldn't die so long as he was careful. Which he intended to be.

The problem with promises, Red always had to keep them. He was too good to the people he loved.

Wait, _loved?!_ No, no, no, nononononono, Red wasn't falling for the little guy, he was just...protective was all! Yeah, Blue reminded him of when Fell was still an innocent little kid that could do no wrong. What was he going to do about Fell? Red really hadn't thought any of this out. And, great! Now he had a bright red blush from the stupid thought of him and Blue being a thing. Taking care of each other, living happily somewhere safe where they could forever trust one another and know each others biggest secrets, with nothing they had to keep from one another...what a stupid idea! Besides, Blue probably hated Red now, he had every right to. Red would not be mad if Blueberry wanted nothing to do with him once Red got him home.

"you're okay!" Blue smiled brightly down at Red, tears still pricking the sides of his sockets.

Red moved his arm away from his face and gave Blue a look of pure shock. Why the actual living fuck was Blue not mad? Red would have been fine with Blue yelling at him, slapping him, attacking him, but what he wasn't ready for was Blue be glad for his well being. No one was glad for Red's well being!  
  
"kid, you've got some messed up priorities if you're actually happy to see the person who just invaded your personal space to a point where he could have easily seen everything about you." Red said, his expression unchanging.  
  
Truth be told, Blue was peeved about the invasion of privacy, but he knew why Red had done it was and was grateful for that much. Blue probably would have been more upset if it had been anyone else. It was most likely because Red was technically him. Sure, they had different experiences, but at least Red would have be less invasive. For whatever reason, Blue was more mad at himself than anyone else. He out himself in the situation, he was the one who forced Red to take the risk and venture into his soul. Blue thought it was his fault, though Red probably would have scolded him, telling him he wasn't the one who hurt him.  
  
Some little part of Blue liked that it was Red. He hardly knew the monster, and yet Blue liked him. Of course he knew what crushes were, he had had a few in his life time back in Underswap, though Pappy wasn't always too happy about random people acting like that around Blue. Just his protective older brother side, Blue guessed. Nonetheless, this wasn't Underswap, to Blue's dismay, but, maybe, the one person who had gone through with a crazy idea like combining souls when the other was unconscious just to help him could be the one to make life bearable until it was possible for Blue to go home. And, if Red could be that, maybe, Blue thought, he could be more.  
  
That was insane! Red was another version of Blue! They were basically the same person! But wasn't that Blue's reason for liking Red in the first place? Blue shook his head. He may call himself the magnificent Sans, but he wasn't so narcissistic to literally have feelings for himself.  
  
But, Red was different than Blue. He had different experiences, a different personality, he was more aggressive and more laid back, in a lot of ways, he was like Pappy, but also not like him. Blue could have probably argued with himself over the topic all day, but Red broke his chain of thought.  
  
"you feelin' alright, kid?" Red sat up, worry etched on his face.  
  
"y-yeah! of course i'm fine!" Blue tried to mimic Red's movements, but recoiled at the pain.  
  
Red was on the bed in a moment, looking over Blue's wounds and wincing. He had seen them before, but the injures caused a new wave of anger pass through Red. "i'll be right back."  
  
Before Blue could question, Red teleported downstairs to the kitchen, immediately regretting the use of his magic. His soul pounded painfully in protest to any of his movements, but Red needed to get the first aid kit. Food was probably not a bad idea either. Red would do anything to stay away from Blue for a moment. How could he let himself break in front of Blue? Red hadn't shown emotion to really anyone in years and now he was blushing like a mad man and worrying himself thin over his smaller self. Not to mention he had actually _promised_ Blue something.  
  
He heaved a somber chuckle, "geez, i'm getting soft." he looked back at the front door. It would only be a few days before Fell came back. Red needed to hide Blue somewhere safe, figure out a plan to somehow travel through dimensions to whichever one Blue was from, and come up with a convincing story as for why Blue is now missing to tell Fell. This was not going to be an easy few days. "this is why i hate making promises."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a few days, I was out of town Friday, but I promise to get back on my awkward schedule! I post whenever there's a new update on my tumblr page, http://inlovewithundertale.tumblr.com/ if you want to know whenever I make a new chapter.  
> So, the actual sanscest starts here and I'm adding a new, shiny tag to the story! I guess you can have a little happiness before shit hits the fan.


	9. Let's Stretch our Bones

Since the day Red rescued Blue, he had hidden the smaller skeleton in his old lab. The machine there was the only chance Blue had of getting home, anyway, Red didn't want to leave him alone for hours on end. After two days, Red's soul was mostly back to normal and he was able to use his magic without much trouble.

When Blueberry became restless in the small space, he tried to keep it to himself considering Red was doing a lot to help him get home. Red saw through the poor façade and had Blue start to go through old paperwork that was mostly unintelligible chicken scratch. It was faster to have Blue rewrite it in his very neat handwriting than for Red to go through it himself and push back tampering with the machine to get it functioning again. Though it wasn't the best job in the world, Blue enjoyed doing anything besides sitting there.  
  
After three days, though, Blue wanted nothing more than to leave the lab and stretch his legs. Outside was definitely too dangerous, especially if someone told Fell that they saw Blue, and he understood that, but even just going in the house for an hour sounded like bliss to his cramped bones. Most of Blue's injuries were healed, but his leg had been badly broken and Red had been lecturing him on not using it until it was fully healed, but keeping it bent most of the time he spent in the lab was not helping. He didn't have to walk on it to relax it. Red was nonetheless against the idea.  
  
"look, i know this isn't the most comfortable place to spend the day, but what if Fell comes back? I have to keep working on this and there's no way i'm letting you stay out there alone." Red argued.  
  
"well then come out with me! you've been complaining about being stuck on the same circuit for the past two _hours_! Stopping for a little bit might help. It always helps me." Blue smiled.  
  
The bigger of the two skeletons was still surprised by how well Blue was taking most of this. Heck, he was laughing and talking like nothing at all had happened to him. Red guessed this was his default mode, which was adorable, but Red was worried it was masking something more important. If Blue was just trying to hide his fear and pain, he would only end up in more trouble than he had been in. Of course, they were being careful, but keeping stuff like this locked up could destroy someone. Red would know.  
  
It had only been a few resets ago when his own soul fell down. Of course, once another reset happened, he was fine, but just the thought of dying that way again made his metaphorical skin crawl. Since that timeline, he made sure to confide in someone, even if it was his brother. Usually, Fell would just call Red pathetic when he would ramble on about things, but Fell would leave it at a simple verbal berating. Whether that was Fell's good side showing through or he just didn't care enough to do more, Red was grateful.  
  
This reset, however, Red had not done that. When everything reset the morning before Blue appeared, Red couldn't take it. He ran off without saying anything, right into the thick of the worst parts of the Underground. He had hoped to be dusted, but Fell had found him in a battle and dragged him back home. Of course, they fought, Red got a little too intense and sent a bone straight into Fell's nightstand. It wasn't his best idea, but he had gotten away rather unscathed and even was allowed to sleep the full night. Until he woke up and found his smaller counterpart sleeping peacefully on the couch. To think, this all started because Red finally lost it. But, then again, looking at Blue, at the sparkle in his eyes, at the smile he wore, Red concluded that every hour of suffering was worth seeing this little ball of hope.  
  
Sure, there would be a reset soon enough and, if Blue stayed, he wouldn't remember a thing. Not this time in the lab, not Red's promise, not how Fell hurt him. The small skeleton would make the same mistakes he made the first time. If that happened, though, Red would be sure to get him to safety before that happened. Blue would not be hurt like that again. Not while Red was still kicking.  
  
By now, Red had come to terms with the fact he had feelings for Blue. His mind still warred against the slightest thought of them being together, considering Blue needed to get home, but he harbored the feeling in his heart of absolute joy whenever Blue would smile at him or laugh. It was the only warmth in Red's soul, a warmth that filled him perfectly. Nothing would take his light away.  
  
"blue," Red had taken to the nickname a sort while after Blue woke, "i need to keep working. you need to get home."  
  
"i know," Blue looked down, but returned his gaze after a moment with new resolve, "but that doesn't mean you can't take a break. if you keep going, well, we probably won't be much closer than if we take a bit to go inside and stretch our bones. staying cooped up like this messes with your head, you know."  
  
Red stifled a laugh at the adorable look on Blue's face, "i said no and i mean no. it's too dangerous."  
  
Blue tried to keep up his determined act, but finally gave up with a sigh, falling back down to stare at the ceiling. This had been quite the week. Under normal circumstances, he'd just watch a movie with Pappy and feel better, but that wasn't possible. Pappy wasn't here. He was in Undersawp, probably worrying sick over Blue, probably turning the Underground upside down looking for him with Alphys, probably having Undyne check and recheck the cameras over and over again. They probably thought he was dead by now. Pappy wouldn't give up so easily, though, and Alphys would spend more time looking for Blue's dust than dealing with her own health and the guard. Oh, boy, what would they say knowing how weak Blue had been to be captured by Fell.  
  
Oh God, just the thought of the tall skeleton made Blue shiver. He was so similar to Pappy, but Pappy would never do the things Fell did. Would he? Was Blue just blind to Pappy's worse side? Either way, Pappy would never hurt a Sans. That was certain, regardless of whether he was capable of the act of hurting another person like that intentionally. The pain remained in Blue's soul from everything that happened, though he didn't want to confide it all to Red. That would be a burden, more so than everything else Red was doing for him. Blue didn't want his pain to be part of what Red needed to deal with.  
  
Red sighed, sitting on the small, makeshift pillow bed next to Blue, "lemme see."  
  
Blue felt his face flash blue before he complied and willed his soul out of his chest. He didn't like taking it out of his rib cage, but knew that Red meant him no harm by looking at it. He was making sure the crack didn't reappear on Blue's soul.  
  
The small, heart shaped, glowing object turned slightly at Red's coaxing then disappeared back into place once allowed. Blue nodded at Red and Red allowed his own soul to come out. After a few times of Red asking to see Blue's soul, they made an agreement. Whenever Red saw Blue's soul, Blue could see Red's in return. It wasn't much, but Blue was genuinely concerned about Red's well being, too. He knew full well how he felt, but tried to suppress it. That was something he'd have to let go of, anyway, when he went home.  
  
Soon, the red soul also disappeared and again they were plagued by silence. Red was battling with himself and finally lost to the look on Blue's face.  
  
"alright, but only for an hour!"  
  
"victory for the magnificent sans!" Blue shot to a sitting stance and wrapped Red in a hug.  
  
When they both realized there position, Blue pulled back and they looked away to hide their blushes. Red coughed and placed a careful hand on Blue's shoulder. Before Blue could turn to face him, they teleported to the living room. The world spun for a moment, but Blue shook his head and stared in amazement at his still blushing companion.  
  
"wowie! that was amazing!" he exclaimed.  
  
"heh," Red pulled his coat up so he could burry his face in it, "nothing to it." he waited a moment for his flusterment to pass before letting his coat fall, "so, you wanna watch a movie? trust me, there's nothing on tv you'd like."  
  
"sure!" Blue smiled brightly, "what movies do you have?"  
  
"well, only one. an old, cheesy horror movie." Red smirked remembering the stupid movie. He found it incredibly funny how humans actually found a giant ball of goop scary. That would be the least of your worries in the Underground.  
  
Blue, on the other hand, was not necessarily looking forward to anything horror related.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, after the last few chapters, I was wondering how many of you would like a small chapter dedicated to what's going on in Underswap. If you would like to see that here in the next few updates, please comment below! :)


	10. The Fluff Before the Storm

Blue had been trying his hardest for the past hour to not look terrified, but it was not working. This was a sick and twisted way to pass the time, he knew it, but he was trying to be nice since he had forced Red to leave the lab. It wasn't exactly going well as Blue soon realized most things in Underfell were completely messed up.

Red had called this movie _The Blob_ and Blueberry was not a fan! The other skeleton looked tiredly at the screen with a small grin, but Blue was definitely not one for horror in any kind, even this old movie that was probably more hilarious than scary to anyone else. That was the case with Red. This was the last thing Red had been sentimental about. He had always watched it with Fell when they were sick, back in the days when Fell still was a half-way decent person. The memory of Fell laughing at how stupid most of the dialog was stayed with Red to this day, making him long for those days. But now he had Blue to share that with.

With new resolution, Blue stared at the screen trying not to scream along with the people. It worked until one woman screamed unexpectedly and Blue jumped, his set jaw opening wide for his yelp of terror. Red was quick to turn the movie off and turn to Blue.

"what's wrong? are you alright?" Red placed careful hands on Blue's shoulders.

The smaller skeleton wrapped his arms around Red, "i-i'm sorry, i just can't take anymore."

This shocked Red. He thought it was impossible to be scared of a movie like this. Sure, he would understand if they were watching Mettaton or something else, but an old movie from the surface depicting a normal looking monster as a terrifying beast seemed like the least likely to make Blue upset. Then again, he was rather fragile right now, so that might have been part of it.

"there's nothing to be sorry for." Red said running a hand over Blue's skull soothingly, "i understand if you're scared."

"i-i don't want anymore pain...please..."

Blue caught himself off guard. Everything he had been feeling about when Fell hurt him had been harbored even from himself. Blue had been busying himself with other things, so his mind wasn't able to wander to what he had gone through. His soul still hurt, his body had much less energy, the sparkle in his magic was dulled. This wasn't normal, Blue could shrug off everything. He had shrugged off his brother breaking his promise not to drink and helped him through it, he had shrugged off injury after injury from his more vigorous guard training, he had even shrugged off being stuck in a blizzard for close to two days.

For whatever reason, this in particular would not leave him. Blue started to sob into Red's jacket, making the other's eyes widen in worry.

"hey, hey, it's okay, i won't let anything hurt you anymore." Red cooed.

This only make the sobs escaping Blue get worse. It was stupid, Blue should just be able to go on. Red was helping him, everything was okay, that would never happen again. But his crying didn't stop. His bones rattled with each unnecessary breath and his arms clung to Red like a life line. He would be a future member of the Royal Guard, he couldn't act like this! What would Alphys say? What would Pappy say? They both put life and limb up to help him so many times, and how does he repay them? By crying into the shoulder of his red counterpart like a big baby. If this was all it took to make Blue this upset, there was no way he could face the others without feeling immensely guilty for taking their time.

And Red. Red had saved Blue from death, gave him a warm place to sleep, and was helping him home, all without asking a thing from Blue. How could Blue put this on him, too? It was like relying on a life vest to not only save you from drowning, but also take through your feelings. It was ludicrous to assume Red would listen to any of Blue's rambling, even if he needed to let it out.

"c'mon, buddy, tell me what's wrong." Red held Blue closer, "i won't judge."

"this shouldn't be h-h-h-happening." Blue whimpered between gasps, "i s-sh-shouldn't be so u-u-u-upset about what h-h-h-happened."

"kid," Red said sternly, pushing Blue out to look at him dead on, "blue, you have every right to be upset. you're hurt, you need to just let it all out. i can respect that. it happens to all of us."  
  
"i-i-i don't w-w-w-w-w-want to be s-scared." Blue whimpered, "i-i've never b-b-b-been like this!"  
  
"it's alright, blue, i'm here." Red said, pulling Blue in once more.  
  
"d-don't leave." Blue requested.  
  
Red didn't protest and simply allowed Blue to sob. It was quiet and muffled against Red's jacket, though he could care less about that. He continually mumbled small, comforting words onto the top of Blue's skull. Blue slowly tired himself, his thoughts jumbled in sleepiness.  
  
"why don't we just play a card game," Red offered when he felt Blue settle, "if you're up to it."  
  
Blue nodded and Red helped him to the table to play a few hands of poker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I will be doing an Underswap chapter, based on all the people asking for it. I don't know if it'll take longer than a normal chapter, so please be patient!  
> Oh, and Blue won.


	11. The Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have an Underswap chapter before things go to shit in Underfell.

Papyrus had been late coming home. After a long day of work, which he actually put effort into once he saw what Sans would be doing all day, he had gone to Muffet's to get a quick bite to eat. He didn't want Sans to be cooking when he was probably half asleep, so, with a trip home to leave Sans a note not to worry about dinner, Papyrus divulged into stories from some of the drunk dog sentries at the bar.

He had lost track of time and it was close to midnight before he finally forced himself home. Muffet had cut him off about two hours ago, so he was mostly sober and he hoped Sans wasn't worrying himself. It would break the skeleton's heart if he thought Muffet had allowed Papyrus to drink to his content again.  
  
The door was unlocked, which wasn't abnormal, but the lights were also left on and there were several muddy foot prints on the carpet leading to the couch. That was obviously Sans and Papyrus assumed that he had been just too tired to care. If he had been 100% sober, he would have probably noticed how weird it was that the mud stopped there and Sans' boots were nowhere to be found. Instead of being worried, Papyrus simply turned out the lights and went upstairs. He took a quick look at Sans' door. Papyrus almost went to go check on his brother, but decided against it in fear he'd wake him.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Morning rolled around slowly for Papyrus. When he finally popped his sockets open, it was already noon. Oh, geez, it was already that late? Wait, why hadn't Sans woken him? Was Sans still asleep?  
  
Yawning, Papyrus left the comfortable warmth of his room and looked suspiciously downstairs. No sign of Sans. He knocked before pushing open Sans' door. No sign of Sans. He must have already been at work, which raised Papyrus' original question. Why hadn't Sans woken him? Papyrus went downstairs, finding that, oddly enough, the kitchen was unused. There was no sign of breakfast having been made and while Papyrus would suspect Sans was practicing his fire magic, usually, Papyrus would have smelt the smoke.  
  
Taking another look, absolutely nothing was disturbed from the last meal he had with Sans. Apparently, the small skeleton hadn't even had dinner. Was he okay? Papyrus shook his head, Sans was probably just tired and forgot, though that was unlike him. There was no way he was hurt, not in Underswap. Everyone liked Sans, even if he had been hurt, someone would have helped. Someone would have found Papyrus and told him what happened. No secret could stay away from Papyrus' ears for long, anyway. Not in Snowdin.  
  
A knock at the door made Papyrus jump. He opened the door to find one of the sentries standing on the porch. What was a sentry doing here in the middle of the day?  
  
"Is everything alright?" they asked, tentatively, "Nobody's seen Sans all day. We were wondering if he was sick or something. He was out in the cold all day yesterday."  
  
"WAIT," Papyrus' sockets grew dangerously dark, "HE HASN'T SHOWN UP FOR GUARD DUTY YET?"  
  
"Yeah, I thought he was still home."  
  
Papyrus felt his non-existent stomach drop out of him. No, Sans was fine, he had to be, he was at Alphys' or something, he just had gone to see here before going to work and they got to talking. That happened sometimes. But Sans always left a note saying he was going to Alphys'. He never went missing without leaving a note or something to tell Papyrus he was fine. Where was Sans.  
  
"HE MUST BE AT ALPHYS' OR SOMETHING." Papyrus spoke more to relieve himself than the monster waiting for any kind of response from him.  
  
"Oh, I should have guessed. Sorry to bother you." the monster smiled as if nothing was wrong.  
  
Something was wrong. It was definitely wrong. Papyrus closed the door and immediately teleported to Waterfall. He was sprinting towards the small house belonging to the captain as if it was the only place of refuge in the entire Underground. He knew it wasn't. He even ignored the stupid Temmie watching him as he slipped and slide to a stop some feet from Alphys' yard. Sans had to be here, he had to. He was fine, he was safe, he wasn't dead. No, it wasn't one of those timelines. It couldn't be.  
  
"SANS!?" he yelled helplessly, pulling his lanky body back up from the place he had slipped.  
  
Temmie watched with growing interest. Had that idiot of a skeleton finally realized how worthless his brother was after all these resets? No, the smaller one had too much confidence in other people. Maybe Papyrus had just gotten drunk and forgot where Sans had gone? That was more likely as he was the only one who did anything new anymore.  
  
"SANS!" he yelled again.  
  
The door opened with a crash and Alphys, the moron of a captain still looking half asleep, stepped out with a look of annoyance. That look dissipated as she saw the look on Papyrus' face.  
  
"What's wrong?" she questioned, struggling to grab Papyrus' shoulders.  
  
"IS SANS HERE?" he didn't try to hold still, looking around Alphys into the house, expecting Sans to be peaking his little head out to see what was wrong, "PLEASE TELL ME HE'S HERE."  
  
"Pap, Sans hasn't been here since Tuesday. What's wrong?"  
  
"I CAN'T FIND HIM! HE'S NOT AT HOME, NOT IN SNOWDIN, NOT AT HIS SENTRY POST-"  
  
"Whoa, calm down, what happened?" Alphys soothingly patted Papyrus' humerus, brow knitted with worry.  
  
"I-I DON'T KNOW! THAT'S THE PROBLEM, NOTHING WAS WRONG LAST NIGHT! I GOT HOME A BIT LATE, GRABBED A BITE AT MUFFET'S, AND WENT TO BED. IN THE MORNING, THERE WAS NO SIGN OF SANS! I THOUGHT HE WAS TIRED, SLEEPING IN, SICK, EVEN, BUT I HAVEN'T FOUND HIM!" Papyrus' voice had more emotion in it than Alphys had thought possible for the tall skeleton.  
  
Usually, Sans was the expressive one, even though he couldn't show much emotion with his permanent smile. Papyrus was cool, calm, collected, the three c's as Undyne would call it. He was never upset, hardly ever worried. This place was safe, nobody would try to hurt Sans, that's what Papyrus knew. He wouldn't keep his little brother locked up in the house forever like a helicopter parent. Sure, if Sans was late getting home, Papyrus would start to worry, but he was always home before morning!  
  
"If he's sick," Alphys suggested, "Maybe he's at the lab? You know, getting medicine from Undyne? Let's go look, I'm sure he's fine."  
  
Alphys was not sure, though. Sans wasn't one to let people worry about him, he would have left some kind of note telling Papyrus he was fine. The brothers were closer than any other two Alphys had ever met, a simple disagreement or something like it wouldn't make Sans leave his brother to worry like this. And Sans never missed work. _Never_. Once, Alphys had told him that a guard never missed a day on the job. She regretted it later as she found out Sans would do anything to get to work, even if it meant going sick. Which he rarely was, but the one time he had been, he almost collapsed on his electricity maze.  
  
Papyrus nonetheless nodded.  
  
"Okay, let me just get dressed and-"  
  
"I'LL GO AHEAD." Papyrus didn't let her finish before running off, something Alphys didn't think he was capable of.  
  
He was well gone before Alphys could call him back. Papyrus stopped passed her house and was about to teleport when Temmie finally came into view.  
  
"Hoi, PApyRUs! I see your brother finally got the hint to leave your sorry ass behind." Temmie smirked.  
  
"I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU'VE HURT HIM..." Papyrus threatened.  
  
"WHo, mOI? tEMMiE WOUld NeVeR!" Temmie put his paws to his chest as if hurt.  
  
Papyrus glared harshly at him, but with a pop was gone. This was nice, messing with people when he really had to do nothing. Temmie liked watching chaos, especially when he wasn't responsible. It felt nice to not have to do the work, but he needed to go watch what happened next, this story intrigued him. Papyrus had never lost his cool like this.  
  
Papyrus hadn't expected the sudden heat and almost fell over from it, but quickly ignored his growing nausea and started running once more to the lab. Whew, he was exhausted, but the thought of not finding Sans was more daunting to Papyrus than him collapsing from using too much magic. Something happened to Sans, the growing pit in Papyrus' soul told him so. If he didn't find the skeleton, he knew nothing good was going to happen. Anything and anyone could kill Sans, that slowly dawned on Papyrus. Oh, God, he had been letting Sans roam around carefree when he could have been murdered by mere accident! A rye snowball or a falling branch was all it really took.  
  
It made the taller skeleton sick to think of Sans dying like that.  
  
His fist slammed on the metal door three times when a scratchy voice finally answered, "Papyrus?" Undyne questioned, her voice a bit glitch from the static on the intercom, "What's wrong?"  
  
"IS SANS HERE?"  
  
Undyne opened the door to let the lanky skeleton in. The lab had hardly changed, though it was a little dirtier than Papyrus remembered from the last time he visited. Old, empty food cartons and pieces of paper made it hard to see the tiled floor beneath, which wasn't new, but there was more littering the stairs to the other floor and the desk. He paid no real mind to the lab, though.  
  
"Sans?" Undyne questioned, making sure she had heard correctly, "N-no, he h-hasn't been here in months. Why?"  
  
Papyrus put a hand to his mouth, stepping back and sliding down the wall as tears threatened to escape from the sides of his eye sockets. Undyne stepped back at the odd demeanor. Papyrus never cried, never. This was serious.  
  
"Let m-me check the cameras." she offered timidly.  
  
The screen veered to life, showing at first grainy images of the different parts of the Underground that slowly cleared. She focused on one camera near Papyrus' house and rewinded until she saw Sans. He walked sluggishly, tiredly toward the front door and somehow managed to close it behind himself even though it seemed he didn't have the strength. Looking through the rest of the footage, Undyne didn't see him again. Papyrus showed up late that night, also tired, but obviously not too terribly drunk, if at all. There was no way she would ever accuse Papyrus for Sans' disappearance, but it seemed he was the only one to enter or exit that house after Sans.  
  
There had to be a back door or something Sans went through that morning to head off where ever he went, though that seemed unlikely. Checking the rest of the cams, Undyne didn't see either skeleton throughout the Underground meaning that Sans hadn't left and Papyrus hadn't had the chance to dispose of his dust if it had been Papyrus to hurt Sans at all. It could have been any number of things.  
  
Something did catch Undyne's eye, though, a strange, hooded creature leaving Snowdin sometime after Papyrus returned home. They were about Sans' size and seemed to be shivering. Or crying, if that was the case. They walked all the way to Waterfall in the dark and Undyne's cameras lost them once they made it to the Last Falls bridge. Whoever it was didn't leave. She immediately assumed the worst, a hand shooting to her face to cover up any sound of a sob. It was too late to keep it from Papyrus, though. He had seen and was already standing and hurrying out of the building.  
  
"Papyrus, wait! That could be anyone!" Undyne called hopeless sentiments.  
  
She wasn't wrong, that had been someone else. Hapstiblook had been going through Snowdin on his way home and been hiding behind a cloak, which, surprisingly, stayed on him. They didn't know that, though. There was no way Papyrus could have been able to find out that figure was a ghost and not his brother.  
  
The Last Falls were peaceful and soothing, but nothing would have made Papyrus feel better at this moment besides Sans and he was not there. That seemed to be a constant. Sans was not here, he wasn't there, he wasn't at home, he wasn't with Alphys or Undyne or anybody. He was gone, his dust probably scattered on the rocks far below like a thin layer of icing on a cake. It should have been Papyrus, not Sans. Anyone but Sans. He was gone, gone, gone, goNE, GONE! Dead, dusted at the bottom of a waterfall he would call beautiful on days like these. The rocks above were shining brighter today than normal, as if just to spite Papyrus. Sans loved when the crystals were glowing bright. He always said that meant someone was having an amazing day. That the crystals were smiling because they liked watching people living happy lives. Someone was happy, but it sure as hell wasn't Papyrus.  
  
He used to tell Sans the crystals were smiling at him. That the one the crystals loved most was Sans. They would shine brightly every day if they wouldn't burn themselves out. They loved Sans the most, with his battle body and his wide, blue eye lights. Sans deserved every ounce of light they could get down here.  
  
This wasn't the first time Sans had died, and it sure wasn't as gruesome as a few timelines, but it shook Papyrus worse than any other. Papyrus though Sans had jumped himself. What could have made such a bright monster loss faith and commit suicide? Papyrus? Sure, that was reasonable. Heck, he remembered trying a few times, but he always stopped _because_ of Sans. He couldn't leave his little brother like that, even if everything would reset soon. How could Sans do that to him? Sans didn't know about the resets, to him, this was permanent. To Sans, this was death, this was the end, game over, nothing left. Was he so tormented by something that he had to do it? Was it Papyrus? Was it something else?  
  
Papyrus couldn't speak, he couldn't breath, not like he needed to, but still. Everything was spinning, the drop in front of him looked so much bigger and unwelcoming than before. He tried to grab something, but missed and fell flat on his butt staring at the edge of the bridge. The world blurred with his tears as they finally rolled down his face freely. Sans was dead, Sans was dead, Sans was dead. He was gone. This was it, the timeline that finally made Papyrus' world crumble into nothingness. From this dizzying height, Papyrus could probably see the bottom, see the sharp rocks that he believed to have taken his brother's life. Just one step and this reset would turn into nothing more than a bad dream.  
  
Facing the final possibility that this was where Sans had died a terrible, sad death, Papyrus could do nothing but cry. His body wouldn't move and his mind repeated the same name in his head over and over, 'Sans'.  
  
If he had been home sooner, been with his brother that night, helped him, listened to him, saw how hurt he was, known what was wrong, Papyrus would have saved him. Things wouldn't have ended this way. Why Sans? Why, why, why, why, why!?  
  
"Why..." Papyrus cried, "YOU SAID TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING, TO NEVER KEEP MY PAIN FROM YOU! THE SAME APPLIED TO YOU!"  
  
His words were only choked sobs echoing off the cave walls, nothing but and empty plea. It was over, Papyrus couldn't do this.  
  
"Oh, Papyrus," Temmie didn't dare go near, "You couldn't even protect the one person you loved from yourself."  
  
Papyrus' sobs subsided slowly, turning into silent tears, "It doesn't matter..." He forced himself to stand.  
  
Pleas and calls could be heard from the corridor as Papyrus' dead sockets looked numbly down to the bottom of the falls. The water would feel good on his bones as he slipped away. A little bit of comfort from everything before he woke back up in his bed as if waking from a nightmare. That sounded nice.  
  
Alphys turned to the bridge right as Papyrus crawled under the railing and tipped himself towards the waiting abyss.  
  
"Papyrus!" she yelled, trying to grab hold of him. It was too late.  
  
He plummeted to his death while Alphys cried out and tried to grab him. Only too late did he realize there was no dust on the rocks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit this took a while. I started yesterday! Anyway, this is by far the longest chapter in the entire story and I hope you guys like it!


	12. On Cold Nights Like These

"AHHHHH!" Blue woke screaming, his voice quickly filling the small lab.

Red jumped at the sound, falling out of his chair. Realizing that it was Blue who was screaming, he raced over to evaluate the problem. There was no one foreign in the lab, no noises from outside to cause any disturbance. Not knowing what happened made Red feel helpless and small, but figuring it out made him feel worse. Blue had a nightmare.

"hey, hey, c'mon, you're okay, blue. look at me." Red tried to help, but his words just made Blue dissolve into sobs.

The smaller skeleton's eyes were both wide and dark, something unusual for him, and his body shook hard enough for his bones to rattle. He was trying to breath, but it was as if something was clenching his soul and he could hardly do anything but sob. Blue tried to rationalize his dream, but just thinking about what happened made him fall deeper into his utter horror. He hadn't had a nightmare since he was a baby bone and they had never been this bad. They never involved someone dying, especially Pappy.

"you're okay, it wasn't real, it wasn't real." Red continued his somewhat forced sentiment.

Red had absolutely zero idea what he should do or not do, so speaking was incredibly hard. Not that he though Blue wasn't justified in freaking out, but it only made Red feel worse that he couldn't know what happened. He had had some fucked up dreams in his past; people dying, loved ones turning evil, socks out to strangle him, human children with knives, his subconscious was pretty fucked up. He hardly expected Blue to have something similar happen to him. It was justified, based on how he had been treated in the past week, but Blue was still so happy. He had energy to spare, even though he nearly died not three days ago. A nightmare was the last thing Red expected Blue to go through.

Last time Red saw someone have a nightmare, besides himself, was when Fell was ten and had been knocked down to three HP. He had been a punk to one of the sentries around Snowdin and they beat the crap out of him for it. Looking back, Sans knew it was justified, but he didn't regret the fresh pile of dust that had to be cleaned the next day. Whenever Fell had nightmares, Red would just sit there and let him be slinging for a minute or two. It had never gotten to a point where Fell would cry, at least not in front of Red. This was new to Red and he wondered if that was what he was like. It now made since why Fell was disgusted by it. Red would never judge someone for being in this state, but it was fairly weak. Blue had a right to it, though, after all was said and done.

As Red tried desperately to assess the situation, Blue slowly recovered. He was able to grasp where he was and his eye lights came back, though they were dangerously small. Within an instant of noticing Red, Blue had his arms around his double.

"you're okay, kid. it wasn't real. everything is fine." Red continued, recovering fast from the sudden change and wrapping his arms gently over Blue to rub his back, "what happened?"

"p-papyrus, h-he..." Blue stopped to give himself a second to sniffle and blink away the urge to fall into a fit of hiccups, "he d-d-d-died..."

"if i had 5g for every time i dreamt that..." Red mentally slapped himself for saying that aloud. He must seem like such an ass.

"he...j-jumped..." Blue couldn't help it, he squeezed Red tightly, "off the last falls...t-t-thinking i was dead!"

"it was just a dream, he's fine. trust me, he is."  
  
Red wanted to say he promised Pappy was alright, but he could very well be wrong. That was a different timeline, one Red didn't yet have assess to. If Pappy was as much of a sap as Blue, it wouldn't be far fetched for him to have done that exact thing because he thought Blue was dead. Who knew, that universe might not be able to reset, or there was another Blue taking the originals place, or any number of things. But Red couldn't promise anything because he didn't know. He hated not knowing.  
  
So did Blue. He couldn't just run upstairs and check, Pappy was in another universe, not another room. It was hard enough not being able to see his brother, but after something like that, he only wanted to make sure everything was alright. God did he hope everything was alright.  
  
Red tried to get up to grab the blanket that had been tossed aside, as it was a fairly cold night, but Blue held him still.  
  
"don't l-leave! please..." Blue had his face buried in Red's chest.  
  
The taller skeleton obliged and curled himself around Blueberry protectively, continuing soft murmurs as the two sat there, both unwilling and unable to fall back into the calm quiet of sleep. Blue's tears had long dried before he finally allowed Red to move slightly for that blanket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who was the one asking about nightmares? I know it was you.  
> Anyway, sorry about not updating yesterday. Things happened and it was midnight before I realized I hadn't gotten a chapter out. Whoops. I wasn't thinking I would tie in the Underswap chapter to the things happening in Underfell, but I saw someone talking about nightmares in the comments and decided it would make a nice little filler chapter, so the moment just presented itself.


	13. Tired Berries

Neither managed to get back to sleep that night, or rather bothered trying. It wasn't worth it. Instead, Red stayed with Blue, holding him for hours until Blue finally let go. Honestly, Red would have been fine holding him for longer, but didn't want to over step boundaries. There were unspoken lines and Red did not want to cross one on accident.

With a few hours before morning really started, Red insisted that Blue try for more sleep, but it only took both of them an hour to realize there was no way Blue was sleeping after that. He got back to working on decoding old notes, though Red knew they weren't necessary anymore. He was close to finding a way into Blue's universe, he could feel it in his bones. He resisted laughing at the bad pun and ran his fingers over the old keyboard. It was sad, really, how disheveled this place was. Red was the only one who remembered Gaster and, by extension, the only one who remembered this machine. It was a good thing he had had the idea to move it before Al had taken over as royal scientist. It seemed odd to Red that no one even questioned why they couldn't remember the last royal scientist, but guessed they probably just didn't care.  
  
Few people actually paid attention to who was alive and who was dead anymore. Too many bodies to count. Of course, there were certain people that everyone knew, like Fell, Al, the king and queen, but normal, everyday monsters were usually just forgotten if there was nothing to remember them for. Really, the only reason left to mourn a death was if the monster owed you money or something. Red hated that, but couldn't stand against it. He was just as bad as everyone else at exactly that.  
  
He didn't remember the last person to have died in Snowdin or even the person who last was killed by him. It was awful and dreary and gloomy, but nothing could be done. The royal guard tried to stop the senseless killing, but only made it worse, there own body count being higher than anyone else's in the Underground, including the king. Though that fat bastard just had other people do his dirty work, so he hardly needed to gain LV. The sickly sweet taste of anger tinged the back of Red's tongue. It was so familiar and normal, it didn't seem like anything had changed for a moment. Then his gaze drew lazily over Blue. He was different.  
  
Blue was kind and energetic. He was the kind to remember and mourn each and every death he would ever hear about. He had that luxury where he came from. Red could only imagine such a place that gave birth to Blue. It was probably lively and safe and warm. It was where a Sans could be loved by his brother and where a simple wrong word would mean nothing. No worrying about being dusted, no hatred, no need for LV. It was ideal.  
  
What Red wouldn't give to have been born in a place like that. Then again, Blue would fit there better than Red would. There was no way Red could ever go somewhere like that without sticking out like a sore thumb.  
  
That's what made Blue so special to Red. He was a ray of hope that shouldn't be able to shine down, but did anyway. It would never make sense, not even to Red, he just wanted to hold Blue for hours on end, call him his own, make every living moment about Blue rather than himself. That was stupid sentiment. They had only even known each other for six days.  
  
Yet, Red knew more about him than anyone else. He hated to admit it, but he had seen quite a few of Blue's memories, heard quite a few of his thoughts. Blue was lively because he had once been caught lazing around and Pappy had joked about it for a month. Since then, Blue refused to even sleep in. He didn't remember most of his childhood, though it seemed to be a lot like Red's from the memories he did have. Reversed roles, but mostly the same. His favorite food was tacos, which he was taught to make by Alphys, the royal guard from his universe. Blue was fairly strong, at least as strong as Red himself, but he refused to hurt people because off an old man who saved Blue's life when he almost fell off the bridge leading to Snowdin.  
  
Blue hated drinking and smoking, two things Pappy made a habit of. He had made Muffet, apparently the equivalent of Grillby, agree to a drink count where she had to cut Pappy off. He loved puzzles and complicated math problems, which seemed like odd hobbies to Red, and had a dream of flying. It sort of made sense, though. Flying would be the first thing Red would probably try on the surface as well, so long as humans didn't wipe all the monsters of Underfell out first.  
  
Eyes were on Red before he noticed he was even staring. Blue cleared his throat, looking down at the floor with a slight glow on his cheeks. Red realized he had been lost in thought for a while and probably seemed rather weird to the smaller skeleton.  
  
"s-sorry." Red looked away as well.  
  
Silence fell back down, covering the lab like a thick blanket of awkwardness. Blue wanted to say something, anything, but couldn't. Red looked so...comfortable staring wistfully at the back of Blue's head. It was strange, but also satisfying? That didn't make a whole lot of sense to Blue, but he guessed a lot of things did. He was so tired, his sockets could hardly stay open.  
  
They wouldn't stay closed either, though. The moment he tried to sleep, Blue found that same image plastered to the darkness waiting to engulf him. Papyrus mere inches from the rocks that would take his life as Alphys tried desperately to reach him from above. It was the last thing Blue had seen before he woke up. The last he saw of his beloved brother. Was that real? Was Blue just thinking worst-case-scenario? Would Pappy do something like that? Of course not! He would never hurt Blue like that.  
  
But Pappy had thought Blue was dead. Blue tried so desperately to yell out that he was fine, that he would come home, but Pappy was already gone. He couldn't hear the younger's pleas from his place on the bridge looking down at the falls with silent tears. Sans had never seen Papyrus cry.  
  
Come to think of it, Alphys was crying, too. Did she also think Blue was dead? Was she worried about Pappy? So many questions and Blue couldn't simply ask his subconscious for the answers. Man, was Blue just asking for pain or what? His soul hadn't hurt like this before. It wasn't cracking, it wasn't breaking, he wasn't falling down, it was pure, unadulterated panic that was causing his soul to feel like it had been squeezed and stretched at the same time. He didn't want to admit it, but just the thought of Pappy thinking about doing that made Blue squirm in his seat with fresh tears pricking his sockets.  
  
There was no way that was real, though. Right? Blue wasn't dead, but Pappy didn't know that. He was somewhere far away that Blue couldn't access. What if that did happen? Oh God, what if Pappy really thought Blue was dead and gave up on him?  
  
One bad thought led to another and, before Blue could process anything, he was being held once more. Red had rested his head on top of Blue's skull and rocked back and forth soothingly. He was so quiet, Blue almost didn't realize he was even there. Not that he was noticing much as tears rolled down his skull, leaving little blue tracks in their wake. Geez, Blue needed to get a hold of himself! One Bad dream couldn't possibly do this to him! It simply couldn't, but...it did. And Red, who was indeed trying to help, only made more thoughts cram into the smaller skeleton's head.  
  
Why on Earth were they both blushing! Red could understand Blue, as he had a right to show emotion at the moment, but Red should not have been letting his own feelings derive from a very unhealthy up taking to his smaller self. This was wrong and not at all platonic on Red's side anymore. He just wanted to hold Blue until the little skeleton fell asleep right there in his arms and Red could hold him even after that for hours, just basking in the slight heat radiating off the other's soul. It was peaceful and all seemed right with the world. Well, except that Blue was crying. Red mentally smacked himself for thinking those things when clearly he was needed! Shit needed to be set straight and he was the only one stable enough to do it. Blue was freaking out, and had every right to be. No one else was here or should be here and Red was freaking letting his sick fantasies take over. He was a terrible person.  
  
Blue seemed to calm, even if in the slightest, and pulled his knees up to his chin with a sniffle. At least the new thoughts were over taking the ones about Pappy, but now he was...well, he didn't exactly know, but he was sure being embarrassed was the right course of action! Was this a blush? Could skeletons blush? He had seen Undyne blush before, but she had skin. Or, well, scales. He didn't. Was it his magic or something else? Oh no, what if he was sick? Like with Rock Fever or something? If that was the case, he was all but prepared for it.  
  
"you look adorable." Red exhaled. Then quickly inhaled realizing his mistake and shooting a hand to his mouth. He hadn't meant to say that out loud!  
  
But Blue had hardly heard him, giving a last quiet sigh before allowing his body to sink into the arms holding him and his eyes to finally close. Whelp, Red got what he had wanted, though now he wasn't so sure how well that was going to turn out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for the delay! I haven't really made up a schedule, but I usually try to post once a day! A lot of things have come up *cough*thatIobviouslyhave'tbeenprocrastinatingonuptothispoint*cough* and they've gotten in the way, but it's here know! And, yes, I do plan to smother you with fluff before the main event.


	14. Guess Whose Home?

Blue rolled over, his sockets seeming to flutter, against all laws of physics. Waking up, he had almost forgotten where he was and what he was doing. The memories came back to him like a load of bricks toppling onto his ribcage. His soul almost retched at the thoughts coming back. How long had he been out? Since this all started, he hasn't had this strong of a reaction. Was something wrong with him? Was something wrong with someone else?  
  
Oh, God, Red! Where was he? Blue almost shot up, looking about frantically, but finding nothing. Oh no, oh no, oh no! The worst ideas ran through Blue's head. What if Red was in trouble? Could Blue have helped him if he was awake? Would it matter?  
  
The smaller skeleton wasn't incredibly strong, but he could at least help fight. Or could he? He hadn't even practiced magic since the morning he woke up on the couch that wasn't his couch. Back home, Blue practiced every day without fail. Even when he was sick he would at least form a few bones before Pappy forced him to rest. It was not fitting of him, a soon to be royal guard, but he was not thinking about that more than that he needed to find his other self and make sure everything was okay.  
  
"red? red?!" Blue called out, but nobody came.  
  
A loud bang somewhere in the house connected to the lab made Blueberry jump and curl in on himself and shrug up next to the far wall. Whatever that was, Blue couldn't make himself get back up and face it.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Red had stayed like that with Blue for what seemed like hours. Though it was extremely awkward, Red couldn't bring himself to let the other go. He was so small and almost fit perfectly against Red's body. This was something he could get used to, even if it was only because both of them were sleep deprived this was possible.  
  
As he drifted into something akin to meditation, Red more than definitely wasn't expecting to here the door to the actual house slam open. A moment of panic washed over Red before he realized it must have been Fell getting home. That was probably worse than what Red had thought it was. At least an intruder would be easy to deal with. Red now had to explain to his boss why Blue was no longer where he was left without giving away that Blue was safely hidden in another part of the room. Luckily, Red had thought ahead and already put some other monster dust in the basement so he would have evidence that Blue just simply died from his injuries. It wouldn't be a far stretch. Red was not about to tell Blue about the dust, considering the smaller probably would have been against it.  
  
Sighing, he teleported to his room and waited for Fell to yell at him to come down. He didn't have to wait long as the unwanted, and unnecessary, loud voice soon called him. With little hesitation, Red steeled himself and exited his room, worrying coating the back of his mind as he remembered Blue still asleep in the lab. He couldn't afford the skeleton to wake up right now, not with Fell back. This was just seeming more and more insane than ever. Why? Why had Red cared?  
  
Was it because Blue was technically Red? Was it because he felt some responsibility to help the only innocent person in the entire world? He knew from the beginning it would be easier to just leave Blue alone, he knew this would happen. Even still, he opened that door and had to help. The moment Red had opened the door to the basement, he sealed their fates. There was no way to go back now, no way to betray Blue and bring him back to his prison. That wasn't a place for the one Red loved, Blue didn't deserve that sentence.  
  
Now, Red would suffer any consequences for his stupidity, if only it meant Blue was safe. Anything to keep Blue safe.  
  
"please..." Red said aloud.  
  
No one heard, he was speaking to no one, but he felt a need to plea for mercy, if only from those that controlled this universe, this story that he found himself always staring in. So far, they hardly ever answered his requests, but they had given him new hope, maybe they'd let him keep it? Red didn't want to let go yet.  
  
"hey, boss." Red answered slowly, descending the stairs at the same pace.  
  
"WHERE IS MY PET?" Fell's voice was dangerous, poisonous, even, but Red was immune to the toxin.  
  
"i don't know, think he died or something while you were gone. didn't go down to check." Red tried to shrug it off as if it didn't matter to him, though saying that made him fell like puking. It was still a vivid memory in Red's mind, how Blue looked, he would have died.  
  
"IS THAT RIGHT?" Fell grabbed Red by the front of his shirt and hoisted him to eye level, "YOU'LL HAVE TO DO."  
  
Red was thrown to the ground and the sharp heel of Fell's boot stabbed into his rib. With a hiss of pain, Red's hands went up to grapple with the foot. Fell took pleasure in his brother's squirms, though he had been looking forward to messing with his pet. He was sure Red had actually killed the other Sans, but he would just tax that onto everything else that went wrong this week. Goddamned Doggo could do nothing correct, the rebels got all the way to the Ruins door before they were stopped and promptly killed, mostly by the dogs as Papyrus put more effort into looking for any stragglers of the group. He had been told off by Undyne, because she could totally do a better job, and another stupid monster thought they could get the jump on Fell while he worked. It was simple to kill those Fell was supposed to, give or take a few more idiots, the problem was how far out he had to go for it. Why did the rebels have to camp out at the cavern walls? They would die nonetheless, make the job a little easier, jeez.  
  
Red gasped as he was kicked hard in the spine. The blow was meant for his ribs, but Fell was so distracted by his thoughts he actually missed. Oh well, the spine hurt just as much, probably more in the right places. Where Fell's toe was still lodged was the right place.  
  
A few more hard hits and Red was convulsing from the pain. In between the vertebrae was very sensitive and Fell's boot cut deep into the gap. Tears that hadn't shown up for years were in Red's eyes and he could only stare helplessly at the wall with wide blank eyes. Pain had been something he hadn't really felt for years. His mind was toughened enough to ignore it. He was softer now, his heart seemed to beat with compassion again and that made the pain register properly once more. It was no more bearable than the first time this ever happened. Could Red even remember all the way back then? Was it before or after Gaster disappeared?  
  
Red blacked out after a strong hit to the skull. The world swirled before turning to darkness with only one thing remaining as light for Red to head towards. Blueberry outstretched his arms to Red as his light created a halo for his perfect soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I think I might have gotten everything done, but no promises about this Goddamned schedule thing. Nonetheless, here you go! Also, I might start a second story about everything that happens(or rather could happen) in Underswap, keep an eye out for it!


	15. After How Many Years and Cherry Can't Forget

_Sans did not move. It was more like he knew it was pointless. Gaster stood a mere ten feet away, reading some old notes he had made. The silence killed Sans, made him more anxious than anything else that ever happened here. If it wasn't for Papyrus, Sans would have been half way to the Ruins by now, he could easily get himself that far without gaining attention. But with Papyrus on his back? Even Sans wasn't so desperate as to try a suicide mission like that. One hit was all it took, Gaster had made sure of that._

_Back when the two were first created, Gaster knew what he wanted from each of them. Sans was supposed to be the control, his personality left to grow on its own. He would never have more than one HP so there was a reason he could never run. Papyrus was made softer, kinder, with a sense of familiarity. His HP was unaltered so he could withstand what Gaster did. The kinder skeleton would never run away without his brother, he would never leave. There had been a problem, though. Papyrus was supposed to be the first born, but it turned out Sans was able to manifest sooner without the multiple modifications._

_Gaster was impatient and started experimentation with Sans instead, not caring that it could very well kill him. Once Papyrus was finally finished, Sans became protective, something Gaster had not counted for even in the beginning, so when he wanted to back track and get to the worse procedures with Papyrus, Sans would not allow it. He promised to do anything Gaster told him so long as Papyrus was safe and kept as the constant. Gaster only agreed because he decided it would be unscientific of him to start with Sans than move to a different specimen for the same purpose. It would become uncontrolled._

_So, after several pain staking years of careful work, Gaster had built up to this point, bringing Sans down deeper and deeper into the shit storm that was his twisted mind. Sans could handle it, he no longer cared. If Papyrus was safe in this God forsaken world of "kill or be killed", Sans would put up with everything, even the extensive manhandling that would leave him jarred for hours. Today, though, today would be different._

_The DT experimentation was to begin. Gaster would need to properly separate the magic from Sans' soul in order to add the determination to the outer core. This process would take hours and probably would leave Sans very different from how he was now, more submissive in the face of danger, more weak. He would become, for lack of a better word, lazy, too tired to do much of anything. It would make dealing with him all the easier if it properly worked and didn't accidentally kill him._

"Do not worry, Sans. this will only hurt a lot."

~~~~~

Red jolted awake, soul beating hard against his injured ribcage. He guessed he blanked out, or at least forced himself out of reality. Fell was no longer anywhere to be seen, but Red could hear muffled noises from the first room upstairs. He hoped Fell was already asleep, but had no idea what time it was. It could be midnight or noon for all he knew. It was sometime in the morning when Fell got home. Had the taller skeleton been merciful?

One move made it quite obvious he hadn't been. Looking at his body, there were multiple cracks and a few fractures. His body shook as he realized he was completely naked, his clothes strewn about the empty living room like they were in his room. Only this time he felt sick.  
  
Sure he had been... _hurt_ a multitude of times, but, with his emotions everywhere and that memory replaying in the back of his skull, everything seemed like it was happening for the first time rather than the hundredth. He should have forgotten by now, Fell had. It had been well over a decade since then, why was Red still thinking about it? The experiments, the determination injections. He had only ever even had one of those before he had the chance to make a beeline for Waterfall. He had made it, too, never hearing of the old Royal Scientist again and hoping not to, _ever_.  
  
Screwing his eyes shut, Red tried desperately to calm himself like he usually did. It hadn't worked in the past, it wouldn't work now. Bright red tears cascaded over his face as they always did, leaving trails in the bone. Man, this sucked, every moment of it. Every moment of Red's life. What had made him think differently for the past week?  
  
Blueberry.  
  
How had Red forgot his blue counterpart? He was still in the lab, probably awake and scared out of his mind right now. Red hustled to get up, ignoring his pain and putting his clothes back on in a haste. He teleported straight to the lab to find Blue staring at one wall without expression. His eye lights were gone and his mouth moved slightly with unspoken words. His entire frame shook just enough to make small clicking sounds Red was happy couldn't be heard from the house.  
  
"blue?" Red came closer, but Blue did not respond, "blue, it's me, it's-it's sans. it's red."  
  
When Red had started referring to Blue as, well, Blue, the shorter skeleton had insisted on calling Red by the color of his magic as well. Red was not exactly thrilled and refused to respond to it, although Blue would usually throw something at him if he was being rather stubborn and absolutely refusing to reply to any name besides Sans. It would probably mean a lot to Blue if he just accepted the sort of pet name, so he tried calling himself that in an effort to call out to Blue.  
  
But nobody came.  
  
It seemed nobody ever did anymore, but Red wouldn't give up and leave Blue like this. He knew his own attacks were something similar to this and those were bad, he could only imagine what Blue was going through at the moment.  
  
As for Blue, he was less than alright. Being left to his thoughts all day, Blue had allowed himself to slip into whatever this was and kept replaying everything from the week over in his head. Every excruciating detail washed through him like the first time it had even happened. There were phantom pains all over his body and he couldn't move. His soul ached terribly and he half wondered if it was cracking again, but the singular thought was pushed to the very back of his skull in a flurry. Nothing was straight to him anymore. This was the first time he had ever had a panic attack and he could clearly tell he would never want another one, even if his thoughts were a mess at the moment. A faint voice cried out to him, but it was nothing more than a strange swirl of emotion once it registered in his brain as anything.  
  
Red had grabbed Blue's shoulders and carefully placed him in his lap, humming soothingly into the side of his counterpart's skull. Slowly, very slowly, Blue came to and immediately realized the situation. He was too rattled to even cry and just sat there for what seemed like eternity, but was more like a few minutes. Finally, Blue got his voice to work and squeaked out a small, "thank you."  
  
For a moment, Red was taken aback, but quickly recovered, "of course, kid."


	16. Cherry has Bigger Fish to Fry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, those things were not nearly done. Then writer's bloke. I know you've been waiting and this is no excuse, sorry! Oh, and there's a secret in this chapter. First to find it gets a cookie!

That night, Red didn't leave. It had been about ten when he had come back to the lab and, though Red wasn't tired, he lied down with Blue and let the smaller skeleton fall fast asleep in the crook of his collar bone. The affectionate contact made Red uncomfortable for a while as he was unused to it, but he soon took comfort in the small, unnecessary breaths. Blue was definitely a cuddler and it probably didn't help that he wasn't exactly mentally stable. For several hours, Red stayed in place, not falling asleep, but not really paying attention to anything either. His mind was blank, nothing was really processing except the thought of Blue. The adorable little frame matched up with Red's side like a puzzle piece, the black clothing he had borrowed from Red seemed to drown him on the makeshift bed.

Having already been lost in thought once today, Red decided it was best to not think about anything that would set him off, which was about anything. He was happy in the moment because Blue was safe and there was nothing to stop him from enjoying the small company, though a week ago he would have done anything to avoid it. In this world, it was kill or be killed, yet, somehow, Blue had him throwing that to the side to find happiness in the smaller things. As usual, Blue was right, Red was so much happier when he didn't worry about keeping his guard up, but, when he'd inevitably have to leave the house again, Red would be dusted faster than he could say wait.  
  
Heck, he would probably be dusted by Fell before he'd be able to leave the house in the morning, considering he had completely blacked out during...whatever Fell had done this time. Red honestly didn't care. There was definitely worse, Red had gotten it. From beatings that had, in different timelines, killed him to having his soul literally stomped on, but Blue had been given worse. Fell wasn't worried about killing Blue, he didn't care how much pain he put the smallest skeleton through.  
  
While Red stared blankly at nothing, Blue slept safely. His dreams were formless and unintelligible nonsense, but at least they weren't nightmares. Whether his subconscious was less active tonight because Red was there or because of how exhausted he was, it didn't really matter.  
  
Finally giving into the realization that Red could no longer stand the sinking in boredom, he wiggled free of Blue's arms and took up company at his desk. Going back over the last papers he had been on, Red went through the motions of trying to understand what was said in Gaster's notes. Wingdings was pretty easy to understand, so long as the person talking had telligible handwriting and the letters were bigger than two millimeters. Gaster had not been known for making things easy. A shiver ran up Red's spine as he remembered how many times he had been punished by Gaster because he couldn't find the right papers in a specific amount of time. Not his fault Gaster called chicken scratch legible.  
  
Now, it seemed less life threatening, and yet Red found he was more determined than ever to find whatever he needs to. Just the thought of Fell finding out the truth made Red's metaphorical skin crawl. He wanted to keep Blue around, sure, and he knew that he couldn't go to Underswap, but, if only for the briefest moment, he wanted to feel as if he'd down some good. No one deserved Underfell, no one, especially not Blue with his innocent smile and belief in the good of everyone. Those morals were lies, Red knew it. Still, the thought of a world where that could be reality left him wishing his world would catch up to whatever delusion Blue saw.  
  
Something made a shiver run down Red's spine. Thinking about being in a relationship with Blue was like wanting to be in a relationship with himself. That was just wrong on so many levels. At least Blue will be going somewhere better soon so Red could get his mind back on surviving till his next birthday. The little skeleton had made him soft and, although Red enjoyed the feeling of just relaxing, he was bound to be attacked, more than likely killed. Fighting back was too much work, he didn't want to deal with it.  
  
It was now five in the morning and Red was still staring at the exact same problem. He stuffed his face into his hands in pure frustration, wanting to yell, but also being careful not to wake the other. Another ten minutes and Fell would be looking for him, he couldn't risk not being upstairs and having Fell mad about his absence. That usually didn't go over well. He yawned, surprising himself. Last he checked he wasn't tired. When he was younger, Red could go a few solid days without any kind of rest, but now a single night without it and he was a walking zombie. Sure, he didn't exactly sleep very well when he did lie down, but it was enough to make sure he did pass out on a walk through Snowdin.  
  
Getting up from his chair, Red stretched, his spine giving a few satisfying pops, and moved to squat next to Blue. He shook him just enough for the smaller to shift slightly from sleep.  
  
"Ey, Blue, I gotta go to work. Don't worry, I'll be back for lunch." Red said shortly, but slow enough for the other to, hopefully understand.  
  
The half asleep skeleton nodded in understanding then curled away into the warm blankets for a few more hours rest. Normally, Blue was always first to rise. It was an old habit he couldn't shake, but his body refused to have the same enthusiasm this morning. He just wanted to sleep.  
  
Red was not about to deny the other's want to fall back into darkness and stood fully. Turning, he decided it wasn't worth it to teleport and instead used an old back entrance from the lab the led to his room. The old thing was dusty and in need of a good oiling, but Red appreciated the convenience when he didn't have the energy to use magic.  
  
Exiting the secret passage was the hard part. In an effort to keep Fell from ever noticing it, Red had built his sock pile onto of the trap door and most of those socks were hardened from never moving or being washed. That was probably all that kept Fell from just taking the entire pile and throwing it out, half the socks were rock hard and not moving from there place without some serious effort. Red was lucky the ones just above the door were slightly left petrified and he moved them out of the way within a minute or so of careful prodding. Climbing out, Red noticed that the pile looked almost like some sort of volcano now rather than the mound it had been for the past six years, but was too lazy to fix it. Fell wouldn't notice so long as he didn't enter the room and Red was fairly certain he was safe in thinking Fell wouldn't be anytime soon.  
  
"ABOUT DAMNED TIME." Fell growled as Red left his room, making sure the door was shut behind him, "I'M SURPRISED I DIDN'T HAVE TO GO UP THERE AND FORCE YOU OUT OF BED MYSELF."  
  
Deciding it was best not to be a smart ass so early in the morning, Red didn't reply. He climbed down the rest of the stairs, then stopped at the last one. He stared at Fell as the taller forced on his red boots, old memories trying to flood back to Red, but he forced them down quickly. Thinking about when they were younger usually ended up with Red completely drunk and trying not to look too hammered so Fell wouldn't beat the crap out of him for it.  
  
Yeah, Red wasn't a fan of those days and he would feel terrible if he left Blue alone for another night. He shook his head and walked completely into the living room. Pulling his sneakers on, Red could tell Fell was watching him like a predator. One slip up, just one, and Fell would probably lose his shit. Red could afford to make Fell mad today.  
  
Fell cleared his throat to get Red's attention, "I'LL BE AT THE CAPTITAL UNTIL SIX TO FILL OUT SOME INCIDENT REPORTS, BUT IF A HUMAN COMES BY AND YOU DON'T STOP THEM OR DIE TRYING TO BEFORE THEY GET TO THE DOGS, I WHILE HAVE YOU PUBLICLY EXECUTED. AND I WON'T BE LEAVING ANY DUST FOR YOUR FUNERAL, THOUGH I DOUBT ANYONE WOULD ORGANIZE IT."  
  
Of all the days Fell could be gone, this was perfect! Red could catch up on a few hours sleep and Fell wouldn't be on his back about working through lunch. Red could just simply sleep at his stand until around noon, grab something from Grillby's and spend an hour with Blue before heading to his next job. Sure, Red would gladly just ignore work all together and stay home, but Lesser Dog would be all too eager to tell Fell that he hadn't seen Red all day. That pooch had it out for Red, he could only be glad that Lesser Dog was always the first to volunteer to go on hunts. It made life just that much easier when Fell's favorite suck-up wasn't there when Red could get some "time off".  
  
Ready for the slam of the door as Fell left, Red didn't even jump at the sound. Man, how long had it been since that poor door was in complete working order? Those memories were already distant dreams that Red found pleasant, even though they all ended the same way. With the day Fell joined the Royal Guard. Again shaking the thoughts away, the skeleton left the house, careful to lock it tight once on the porch. It wasn't like someone couldn't just throw a rock through a window and crawl in, but the locks were enforced by Fell and Red wasn't about to be defiant today.  
  
Feeling around the snow for soft spots as he walked, Red made his way to the edge of town then to his post. He hadn't seen Lesser Dog yet, but had a feeling the peace wouldn't last long. That dog had a "habit" of getting lost and ending up at Red's station. How you could get lost on a basically one way path, Red would never know. It seemed only the pea-brained furball had the ability to lose his way anywhere.  
  
Even in the woods he literally grew up in. Red almost laughed aloud at the thought, but stopped realizing that would bring attention to him, the last thing he wanted. Finally to the last puzzle before his post, Red say the exact monster he had been waiting for just on the other side. The dog sneered at him, though didn't speak at first. He finally opened his mouth seeing the small smirk that was still on Red's face from his earlier thoughts.  
  
"Ever wonder what happens when you snap a skeleton's spine?" Lesser Dog questioned, obviously trying to sound threatening.  
  
Laughter was caught in Red's throat at the attempt at being at all scary, but he dare not actually voice his entertainment, at least, not with laughter, "'fraid not, though you'd have to catch a skeleton first. we don't really find broken bones all that humerus."  
  
Shaking with rage, the mutt jumped at Red, but the latter simply step sided the enraged monster. He wasn't in the mood and continued forward, giving no more attention to the deadly dog.  
  
"Hell if I know why Papyrus keeps you alive."  
  
Even with those stinging words in the back of his head, Red didn't turn around. He knew he had little line when it comes to messing with others. One wrong word, one step over boundaries and Red would be dusted. It didn't matter who his brother was, if someone truly wanted to kill Red, they would. The prospect of death wasn't something that easily deterred monsters with a taste for EXP.  
  
Lesser Dog was no exception. He, too, had his limits and already had a distaste for Red. If anything, he would be relieved that Red was no longer breathing, even if he was later hunted down by Fell for it. Red wouldn't blame him, either. It was kill or be killed in this world and Red really didn't have any right to be alive. He should have died years ago, it was only for Fell that he was alive, and yet Red wished his brother had never gained that reputation. It ruined the sweet, innocent little brother Red used to have.  
  
Letting himself half collapse into his chair behind his stand, Red found sleep quite easy and was softly snoring within a few moments.


	17. Memories of Good and Bad

_"SANS, WHY CAN'T WE GO OUTSIDE?" Papyrus looked to his older brother from his book. The two sat alone in the small cell that was called their room._

_The older, Sans, smiled half heartedly, not wanting to alarm his brother, but also in extreme pain from the latest experiment. He didn't think he could trust his voice. Nonetheless, he wished he could tell Papyrus they would leave soon, that it was just a matter of time before the doctor let them out to see the real world. That was a lie and Papyrus would see through it. The kid was smart, he knew what was going on most of the time and the few things Sans could keep from him were just things he was stubborn about avoiding. Papyrus didn't need to carry Sans's scars._  
  
_Instead of lying flat out to Papyrus, Sans opted to go with a simple observation that would be nothing shy of what Gaster's employees would say._  
  
_"it's boring out there, pap, it would take only a few hours to see all there was. might as well stay here and dream about other things." Sans tried his hardest to sound like the employees he over heard in the hallways. His voice was raspier and more pleading, but probably believable._  
  
_To anyone who didn't know Sans. Papyrus knew Sans didn't think that, but said nothing. Silence usually drove the two to cuddling up with books for hours, but Gaster had taken away any books they could get their hands on, saying that they already knew too much. Apparently, he didn't want to give either the necessities to leave, and defiance was one such thing. One could only learn defiance and Sans was already stubborn as a mule, no need for Papyrus to get big ideas._  
  
_Memories were the only things they could look to now. Sans tried to recall the black and white pictures of twinkling lights that were called "stars" from an old astronomy tech book he had taken a liking to, the pictures made his feel calmer. Papyrus smiled at the memory of the day they were allowed to name themselves. Gaster had been adamant about refusing the twos' pleas for something to call each other by, but yielded when Sans had offered him something. Papyrus had not heard the agreement between the two, but happily accepted. Sans wouldn't do anything rash, he never did. The older brother was never one to be open with Papyrus, but Papyrus knew whatever Sans had given up didn't change anything, so it had to be good._  
  
_Gaster had no prior experience naming things, so he gave the boys a book full of names for different things and told them he didn't care what they chose. Both boys were fascinated when they got to a chapter full of what was called "fonts". Some were strange and others rather long, but it didn't take long for either to find something suitable. Comic Sans Serif and Papyrus would be their names. Even though Gaster still called them "PS-1" and "PS-2", it filled both brothers with joy when the names were said. They were a small form of freedom._  
  
_"BROTHER?"_  
  
_"yeah, pap?"_  
  
_"ONE DAY I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU THAT THE OUTSIDE IS NOT BORING."_  
  
_"okay, bro." Sans placed his hand on Papyrus' skull, "i'll be waiting."_  
  
~~~~~  
  
When Red opened his eyes, he was back at his sentry post like always. Tears were in his sockets, but he refused to let them spill out. Like most days, he just pulled up his hood so no one would see the red glow in his eye sockets and sat in silence. Man, he had dreamed about that in a long time, he missed those. Even if they always made him cry.  
  
His brother had once been sweet, once been kind. They were together and that was all that mattered, Red could take everything else that came with it. Somehow, Undyne had changed Fell and turned him into this monster. Red just wanted to know why he couldn't hang onto anything good in his life. Nothing ever came of wishing for things, though. There was no use. Not in Underfell.  
  
By the time Red came out of thought, he realized it was noon. Lunch break, something that required Fell to let even Red off the hook for an hour. Of course, Fell still yelled at Red and expected him to eat while at his post, but Red could only shrug. On normal days, he'd just do as he was told, but today, he had someone waiting for him.  
  
Stopping by and grabbing some food from Grillbyz, Red headed home to his guest. Blue as expected was trying to busy himself with an advance Physics book, but it seemed more like he had no idea what was being said. Red almost laughed at the sight. He remembered reading a physics book for the first time. He had stolen it from Gaster for an hour before being caught. They were no longer allowed to read after that.  
  
"i brought a peace offering." Red joked, holding the bag of food out.  
  
Blue looked up, eyes slightly watery from reading, and smiled brightly at Red. The bag was opened and its contents spread out for both skeletons. As they ate, it seemed Blue had thought of something as he practically jumped up from his spot.  
  
"oh no! have i been keeping you from your job?" Blue looked very concerned over this and Red couldn't hold back his chuckle.  
  
"don't worry about it, not like i do anything important. mainly, I just stare at snow all day and try not to pass out. nothing special." Red continued with his meal as Blue sat back down.  
  
"i would never want to make anyone miss something so important just because of me." Blue looked down. If it was possible for skeletons to bite their lips, Blue would have been doing just that. The adorableness was almost too much for Red to handle.  
  
"seriously, like i said, kid, don't sweat it."  
  
"i won't." Blue gave a soft smile, his words not all that enthusiastic, but at least he was better. Red didn't want him to be so sad any longer, not when the machine would probably be working in just a few short weeks.  
  
"don't worry, you'll be back to your timeline in no time. i'm sure your papyrus will be glad to see you."  
  
"yeah." Blue's smile widened, but then diminished, "red? what ever made your papyrus like...this?"  
  
Red couldn't hide his shock. Blue was about to say that he didn't have to tell him by the time Red recovered.  
  
"you know, it's kinda funny." Red looked down with a helpless smile, "the first person i'll tall this story is ironically myself."  
  
~~~~~  
  
_It was a normal morning, fresh snow on the ground outside, and Papyrus already out for his training. "Nine months, three weeks, and six days" was written on a note by the coffee machine where Sans would definitely see it. That was how long Papyrus had been training to join the Royal Guard. Sans knew the numbers by heart and would say them to Papyrus when he was under the weather. It always cheered up the taller skeleton._  
  
_Sans knew the reason Papyrus wasn't already in, though, was because he refused to kill others. The younger skeleton was innocent, he was just made that way, and Sans had made sure that didn't change. Papyrus grew up knowing that killing was never good and that he should avoid ever doing it. Papyrus was strong enough to kept that in face of everything, Sans was not. One hit was all it took to make Sans regret sparing someone, at least Papyrus could get away or defend himself after the initial hit._  
  
_With all the time in the world, considering Sans could open his hot dog stand any time he wanted and Papyrus was not here to tell him that opening late was a bad business practice, the skeleton made himself coffee, cleaned the house a little, knowing that it always helped Papyrus, and made spaghetti for lunch so Papyrus wouldn't have to worry about it when he inevitably got home late. Practice usually lasted for at least three hours, that meant Papyrus was home around noon. He never ate breakfast, so Sans knew he was hungry after training._  
  
_At about nine, Sans decided it was time to head out and was putting on his shoes when the door slammed viciously open. Years of paranoia told him it was a break in and he followed that thought out to the living room with magic fizzling in his hand, ready for a fight. The monster who stalked into the house was no stranger, it was Papyrus. Home early from training. Sans pushed down the blaster that was trying to form as he looked over his brother. It was strange, to say the least._  
  
_Instead of the t-shirt and cargo shorts he usually wore to training, Papyrus was clad in all black and red armor that showed off his lower spine and upper pelvis. His teeth were now sharpened to points and his eyes were less pleased with the somewhat cleanliness of the room than usual. Sans didn't want to show that it bothered him, but it did._  
  
_"I JOINED THE ROYAL GUARD TODAY." Papyrus said simply, walking slowly towards Sans._  
  
_The older smiled despite his fear, "that's great, pap! so, how-"_  
  
_Papyrus grabbed Sans by the collar of his shirt and lifted his up to eye level, leaving his feet to dangle off the floor, "THERE WILL BE CHANGES, SANS. FIRSTLY, DO NOT CALL ME THAT ANYMORE. YOU WILL ADRESS ME AS BOSS FROM NOW ON."_  
  
_"p-pap-" a rough tug on his shirt stopped Sans from saying the name, "b-boss, what h-happened? why a-are you mad?"_  
  
_Sans was questioning everything about his baby brother. Maybe he just had a rough morning? Maybe he was going through a phase? Papyrus was never this mad at anything, especially Sans. The two were closer than anything, how did that change?_  
  
_"YOU'VE KEPT ME FROM MY FULL POTENTIAL FOR SO LONG. TELLING ME KILLING WAS WRONG, THAT EVERYONE DESERVED A CHANCE. PATHETIC." Baffled, Sans took a brief moment to check his brothers stats._  
  
PAPYRUS LV 2 HP 700/700 15 ATK 10 DEF  
  
_"papyrus...what did you_ do _?"_  
  
_"UNDYNE SHOWED ME THAT LV MAKES YOU STRONGER. YOU WERE TRYING TO KEEP ME WEAK. WELL, I WON'T END UP LIKE YOU."_  
  
_He threw Sans down and strode passed. The moment Sans was alone, he bolted from the house and didn't stop until he was to the Ruins door. He didn't come back home that night. Or the next. And he had no intention of going back the third night either, but Papyrus found him hiding in Waterfall._  
  
_"YOU'RE A DISGRACE, SANS. YOU'LL LEARN TO RESPECT ME." Papyrus droned on as he dragged Sans home and tied him up in the basement._  
  
_For hours Sans was in excruciating pain as his teeth were sharpened to points like Papyrus' and a gold one was glued into his mouth to replace the gap caused by Papyrus's attempts to subdue Sans and knocking his tooth out._  
  
~~~~~  
  
"from that day on, i've been a sentry, though it's not like i'm needed. any human that falls down here dies before they get out of the ruins." Red finished, tears somehow subdued, though not for long.  
  
Blue didn't waste time and quickly wrapped his arms around Red comfortingly. It was safe and warm, Red couldn't help it, he started sobbing into Blue's shoulder. He was such a baby. A baby who was slowly lulled to sleep once more by Blue.  
  
~~~~~  
  
It was late by the time Red's eyes opened. Maybe six or seven, time for dinner, but he wasn't hungry for once. Blue was still reading that physics book and didn't even notice Red stirring until he groaned with sleepiness.  
  
"morning, lazy bones." Blue teased, "sleep well?"  
  
"yeah, thanks." Red replied, pushing up from the makeshift bed where he had been set. Blue was stronger than he looked. Or Red was lighter.  
  
There were footsteps in the house and Red guessed Fell was home. Luckily, it wasn't too uncommon for Red to be late getting home, otherwise this could mean something more than a harsh scolding, but words never broke bones. A few more minutes and Red would leave, he was just too comfortable.  
  
An odd creaking sound caught Red's attention. He knew none of the doors made that sound, none of them were old enough to. Except...  
  
Red turned to Blue, "run."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so as I plan, there should only be one more chapter then the epilogue. The end is in sight and not a single one of you are prepared because shit's gonna go down next chapter.


	18. The End

"what?" Blue turned quickly to face Red as the latter pushed a large bookcase in front of his desk.

How could he have been so stupid? He knew he hadn't hidden the trapdoor in his room once he left, but he didn't think it would be a big deal. Fell never went in there! Of course the one time Fell actually decides to give two shits about Red's wellbeing is the one time Red was counting on him not to. His thinking ahead was gonna get them both killed!  
  
The bookcase was not enough it seemed as Fell starting pushing on the entrance. The only other way out was through the other door, which of course was locked from both sides. The main entrance, which was the only one Fell should have ever known about, was always Red's top concern. He never worried about the second one, since he rarely used it. Red pushed his own body weight on his side to keep the shelves from falling, several books falling out around him. Blue stared in shock and horror, unable to move or speak or do anything. Red turns to him, more frightened than before.  
  
"i said run! go! now!" he ordered, still pressing to the best of his ability against Fell's attempts to get in.  
  
"SANS, OPEN THIS DOOR NOW!" Fell yelled, making Blue jump back, but not run.  
  
"i-i can't leave you here, red!" Blue cried, his fists clenched in determination to stay, "i can't leave you here to get hurt!"  
  
"please, it'll be worse if you stay." Red insisted.  
  
"i can help!"  
  
Red took a sharp breath, not wanting to hurt Blue, but knowing the only thing he could say to make him go would break his little heart, "blue, i don't need you! you're only being a burden."  
  
Ouch. Blue stumbled back as if physically hit. His mouth moved in unspoken words as his eye lights dimmed and hand went to his chest, pressing against his sternum. Red was almost pushed to the ground with another harsh bang, but managed to stay upright and manifested a blaster to destroy the door to the outside for Blue.  
  
"get out of here!" Red said, his own pain from his words showing in his sockets. He never wanted to say that to Blue, but it was only to save him. He had to.  
  
This time, Blue didn't argue. He dashed from the lab into the snow before disappearing in the trees. Damn he was fast. Not even Fell could catch up to him now. Thank God for that.  
  
With his relief, Red wasn't prepared for Fell to slam on the door again and went flying forwards without warning. Fell entered the lab and took one look around before grabbing his brother harshly by the wrist and pulled him up, stalling any escape chances. Red struggled, but found no give in Fell's grip, so gave up.  
  
"KEEPING SECRETS, ARE WE?" Fell sneered, "WHERE DID HE GO, SANS? HE WON'T LAST AN HOUR HERE."  
  
"faster than you." Red quietly remarked. Wrong answer.  
  
Fell shoved him harshly into the wall, knocking the unnecessary breath out of Red, "DON'T GET SMART WITH ME, SANS. YOU'D DON'T HAVE THE HP TO AFFORD THE CONSEQUENCES."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Blue didn't stop running for what seemed like hours until his legs finally gave out. He landed in the snow face first with no idea where he was. It was a part of the forest he had never ventured to before. Either that or this place wasn't in his universe. Red had told him that there were differences, like Grillbyz was where Muffet's had once been and the queen in Underfell was the one who left, not the king.  
  
Red...what he said still hurt Blue, even though he knew why Red said it. He wouldn't listen to reason, he would be killed, they both would. The taller was trying to protect Blue, trying to keep him out of danger like he had since the day Blue had been saved from falling down. Blue only wanted to help, he could have helped, but Red would never have that. He acted a lot like Pappy now that Blue thought about it. They both liked that sciency stuff, both were lazy, and when it came to Blue, they both would die to keep him safe. Heck, Red hardly knew Blue. Well, he guessed Red was the one to know Blue best as he was the only person to have ever seen Blue's soul. It probably also helped they were practically the same person.  
  
Tears were freezing on his cheek bones as he finally stood. Knowing his legs wouldn't be of much use, Blue looked for a place to hide. A hollowed out log lay just mere yards from where he had stopped. It would be a reprieve from the storm that was bound to happen and he could be out of sight. These woods unsettled him, if anyone in this universe was as bad as Fell, he didn't want to find out. He knew he needed to go back eventually, to help Red, but he wouldn't make it all the way back on his tired legs. Then again, if it snowed, he'd never find his way back.  
  
"just a minute." he promised himself, "just a minute."  
  
Laying his head down in the log, which was surprisingly warm, it didn't take much for Blue's eyes to lull shut and his breath to grew even.  
  
When he came back to, it was just barely growing light out from an artificial "sun". Oh God, had he slept all night!? Red, Red was in trouble and he just fell asleep in the middle of the forest, cowering in a log? If it had snowed, there would have been no way back, but Blue was lucky. How lucky, though? It had been at least several hours since he last saw Red alive, who could tell if that still help true. Any number of things could have happened, and Blue didn't like most of them. He needed to get back, NOW.  
  
The small skeleton wasted no time crawling back out from his hiding place, but regretted it just as instantaneously. A dog monster, looking almost identical to the Lesser Dog in Blue universe was stalking the woods a mere twelve yards from Blue, and he had no intention of finding out what he was like. Red had once told him that no one in this universe was kind. No one could afford to be. That most definitely went for this Lesser Dog who was covered head to toe in light grey dust.  
  
Lesser muttered to himself as he went by, saying something about an annoying Snowdrake. Blue didn't want to know the rest of what he was saying. Bolting for the opposite tree line seemed like his best option, he could outrun Lesser Dog any day, he had practice chasing Annoying Dog, but that was also the opposite way from his tracks back. Running back around could cause more monsters than necessary to notice him and it would be easy to get lost here. The most he could do was hope the dog didn't see him, but Blue's luck dried out when the monster saw his old tracks and turned to look Blue in the eyes and smirk.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Red couldn't move. He wasn't restrained, there was nothing holding him down, no magic to be seen, but he could not make his body even inch from its position. Everything from his phalanges to his metatarsals was broken and his skull was swimming in marrow, even though that seemed impossible since there was none near his head. Yet.  
  
Several of his ribs were on the floor now, cast aside like broken pieces of a toy. Then again, Red was practically Fell's toy at this point, there was no doubting it. Cold wind from outside ran across his soul and he could only hope Fell wouldn't noticed the footprints Blue had left. They were faint, but Fell knew what he was looking for. No one dared trespass the part of the forest directly behind their house, so at least Sans could keep some dignity.  
  
The only thoughts left in Red's head were of Blue. Had he been caught by another monster? Would he be dumb enough to come back? Was he hurt? Was he safe? Where was he? Would Fell go after him? Would Fell _kill_ him? The answer to the last question was yes. If Fell found Blue, he would not hesitate to kill Red's double. But it wouldn't be a quick death. It would be drawn out, painful, ruthless. Blue would be lucky to fall down after three hours of it, if Fell even allowed that. From Red's experience, Fell would do literally everything to keep Blue alive until he wanted the small monster to die. Sadly, it was one of his best talents.  
  
For hours Fell had been questioning Red, but when it was obvious he wouldn't get his answers, his anger manifested and he slowly tortured Red until even Red, one of the most laid back people in all of Underfell, actually cried out for mercy. He would have taken death over that pain, but Fell wouldn't give his brother the satisfaction. Hell, he even made sure Red didn't black out.  
  
After Fell was sure anymore would kill Red, he moved to the other things in the room, knowing full well that the machine was probably what Red planned to use to get the universe Blue was from. Without it, there wasn't a chance and when it was broken beyond repair, Red could feel his soul churn at the thought of never getting Blue out of this miserable place. Never completing his promise. It hurt more than the actual physical pain Red was in. Then again, that was probably shock setting in.  
  
The taller skeleton also made sure to practically shred every piece of paper, every note and calculation in the lab. Red promised himself if he and Blue got out of this alive, he would recreate the entire machine from scratch if he had to. It looked like he had to.  
  
A single piece of paper caught Red's eye as it fell to the floor before his brother could eradicate it. The handwriting was familiar and Red knew right away who wrote it.  
  
_What ever happens, Red, just know I'm grateful for everything you've done for me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart._  
_~Blueberry_  
  
New tears welled in Red's sockets. Blue had put the note in one of the many notebooks Red had been using as a surprise. There were crossed out words and eraser marks all over the paper and Red wanted to hold it close and do his best to read ever word Blue had wrote, even the ones obviously not meant to be read, but the feeling died when Fell grabbed the note and tore it to pieces.  
  
"LIKE YOU DESERVE ANY PRAISE." Fell sneered as the scraps fluttered to the floor like flower petals. He had read the note, that probably made Red the most mad out of anything. That was meant for him, not the asshole that hurt Blue like he did.  
  
"at...at least s-someone act-tually appreciated what i-i did." he smirked as Fell paused, "n-not like anyone ever...ever thanked you."  
  
Even now as he knew Fell was going to kill him and go after the only person that had given him hope in the past seven years, even now as Fell destroyed everything Red had worked towards, even now after so many years of pain and abuse, Red regretted saying those things to his brother. Not for fear, not for the fact he knew things would get worse. No, he regretted it because he knew those words hurt Fell because all he ever wanted was for people to thank him. No one in this universe thanked anybody, it just didn't happen. Not once in his life had Fell been thanked by someone, except for Red, and it ate away at him on the inside. Red used that to strike his brother, and while he would not apologize for it, he wished he had said something else. Or nothing at all.  
  
Fell turned on his heels towards Red. With one step he was in front of the older brother and grabbed him roughly by the skull, pulling him up by it so he was forced to look Fell in the eye. Red grunted in pain as his body was moved, but did not back down, staring directly back at Fell, ready to accept everything coming at him.  
  
"YOU THINK HE REALLY CARED?" Fell smirked as Red's determined front faltered for a moment, "HE WAS USING YOU. QUITE WELL, I MIGHT ADD. YOU WERE HIS PROTECTION, HIS WAY OUT OF HERE. IF YOU WEREN'T THAT, HE WOULD HAVE LEFT THE MOMENT HE WAS ABLE TO. YOU ARE A DISGRACE, NO ONE WOULD WILLINGLY PUT UP WITH YOU."  
  
Red deflated. That was true, he knew it was. It was the small thought that never died at the back of his skull. He never had a friendship with that smaller version of himself, it was a ruse to make sure Red didn't leave him to fend for himself. But some small part of Red disagreed, telling him that Blue had been genuine. This small part soon took him over.  
  
"no," Red replied, "he cared. he's the only one in this world that actually cares. heck, he even cared enough about you not to fight back and risk hurting you."  
  
"OH, PLEASE. DON'T TELL ME YOU ACTUALLY GREW A SOFT SPOT FOR _YOURSELF_. HOW PATHETIC." Fell forcefully slammed Red back into the wall, causing Red's vision to splotch.  
  
He was dropped and one last thought crossed his mind. _Now_ there was marrow for his skull to swim in.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Once Lesser Dog saw Blue, Blue's heart dropped. He didn't have the time nor energy to fight off Lesser Dog, he was a very persistent mutt. Sometimes that was good, others, like this...  
  
"I thought you never got lost, Sansy?" he snarled, "And what's with you leaving tracks?"  
  
Wait, did he think Blue was Red? This could be his only chance! People didn't mess with Red because of his brother. If Blue could imitate his counterpart, he'd be able to get going. There would be no need to fight.  
  
Blue fought for the right words, but slipped a scowl onto his face and decided to go with the evasive approach, "shuddup." he drawled, deepening his voice to the raspy growl Red normally used, "i ain't in the mood."  
  
Lesser Dog seemed to believe it, but obviously was one to like messing with Red, "What, no smart remark? No pun? I might just actually like you better this way."  
  
"whatever, p-boss'll," Blue corrected himself, remembering that Red never called Fell 'Papyrus', "kill us both if i'm later than i already am."  
  
"Sounds like he'll already have your hide judging by what's coming from his interrogation."  
  
Blue rolled his eyes like he'd guessed Red would do and walked around Lesser Dog like nothing was out of the ordinary, though his heart was racing. The dog didn't stop him, but gave a short snicker before heading along his way. Man, if the Royal Guard thing never worked out for Blue, he could probably do pretty well as an actor. Once he could no longer see Lesser, Blue made a mad dash back through his old tracks. Some were a bit faint, but he finally caught glimpse of the back of not-his-house. There was still a hole in the wall where Red had blown out the door and Blue could hear yelling.  
  
Coming closer, he slowed and went passed the door to the outer wall, inching along it as to be not seen or heard. He could make out Fell's voice clearly from here.  
  
"DID YOU REALLY THINK I WOULDN'T FIND OUT ABOUT THIS? YOUR LAZY ASS LEFT THAT SECRET DOOR WIDE OPEN, YOU THOUGHT I WOULDN'T NOTICE? ONE OF THESE DAYS, SANS, YOU WILL LEARN NOT TO DISOBEY ME. THAT IS IF YOU DON'T DIE FIRST."  
  
Blue stiffened. Red was alive, if Fell was any indication. Relief washed through Blue, he wasn't to late, but a daring glance into the room proved there was a lot of damage he could have prevented. Red was a broken heap on the floor, just barely conscious. The machine was smashed to almost nothing recognizable. The makeshift bed Blue had been sleeping on was nowhere in sight. Shredded paper littered the floor. Nothing was still in tact.  
  
That was okay, though. The room, the machine, the papers, those things were just that, _things_. Maybe not replaceable, but they could be salvaged, or mostly. Red could not. He was alive, that was all that mattered. Wounds heal. Death does not.  
  
Still, rage boiled in Blue. He had wanted to avoid the feelings he had for Red, just have the two be friends or something, but now they were stronger than ever and not dying. Even if the two barely knew each other, even if there were thousands of things Blue needed to learn about Red, even if Red was him and these feelings were weird, Blue knew, deep down in his soul, there was nobody in the entire multiverse Blue would ever love more. It was stupid, it was crazy, it was _torture_ , but Blue knew the truth and knew he had one chose. Blue could be naïve and rash and could jump to conclusions, but this one time, one time, he knew with every fiber of his being it was true.  
  
The mixing emotions forced Blue into action. Before Fell could so much as blink, Blue stepped into the room and attacked the taller, more intimidating monster, effectively pinning him to a wall far from Red.  
  
"blue! what're you doing!?" Red jolted, trying to move but failing.  
  
Blue didn't waste time, he rushed to Red's side, Fell cussing and struggling behind him. Skidding to a halt, the smallest skeleton enveloped Red in green magic, swallowing his counterpart whole in it. He wasn't the best healer, but he knew how to at least make the pain bearable.  
  
"i told you to run!" Red protested.  
  
"i did. it was cowardly and stupid and selfish. i couldn't not come back, red! you have 1 hp, he would have killed you!"  
  
"who cares!?"  
  
"i do."  
  
Red watched the skeleton healing him with wide eye sockets. There was no hesitation in that voice, no hatred, no loathing. Blue cared, there was now no doubt in Red's mind, though he half questioned that considering he questioned everything. Blue was risking his life just so that maybe they could live for a few extra hours. While Red knew this was pointless, he also knew the Underground was small. Blue would be found eventually. Might as well die now, together, than apart. Red wanted to teleport the two out of there, but he couldn't yet. A teleport would surely kill him right now, he wouldn't make Blue see that.  
  
Right as Red was about to say something more, his soul nearly twisted into a knot. Blue's soul was pulled from his body and he was thrown away with a sharp yelp of pain.  
  
"no!" Red yelled, realizing his brother was free of the bones that had been trapping him.  
  
"DON'T WORRY, I'LL KILL YOU FIRST." Fell smirked, summoning a long sharp bone and aiming it at Red's sternum, right where his soul should be.  
  
There was a fleeting moment where Red mentally realized he was about to die. He thought he was ready, he thought he accepted it a long time ago. His hopes, his dreams had died with the innocent Papyrus Red once called 'brother'. They were brought back by the adorable version of himself he called 'friend'. Red wanted most of all for Blue not to see this, not to see him turn to dust at the hands of his own brother. Didn't want to taint Blue's pure mind with that image.  
  
Time stood still as the single bone was released and Red closed his eyes, waiting for the pain. It didn't come.  
  
Slowly, very slowly, Red opened his eye sockets and there was Blue, standing in front of Red with his arms outstretched like a child protecting another from a bully. Red was about to assume Blue had stopped the attack before it hit considering the look on Fell's face. That was, until Blue dropped to his knees, his hands coming up to grasp at the magic bone protruding from his sternum and spine. With one motion, Red had Blue lying in his lap, ignoring every single ache in his bones. Tears were in his eyes as he tried to speak.  
  
"d-don't worry, i-i'll fix this." Red stuttered, tears freefalling down his cheek bones and softly landing on Blue's shirt. His shaky hands clenched the bone until it dissipated entirely, leaving just a large hole in the bone of Blue's chest. And his soul.  
  
"red..." Blue mumbled.  
  
"oh, god." Red could hardly find his voice.  
  
"red."  
  
"don't worry blue, i'll fix this. i'll fix this, i'll fix this, i promise i'll-"  
  
"red!" Blue startled Red out of his desperate attempts at healing the wound, the bone around it already starting to dust.  
  
"what is it, blue?" he asked as more and more tears fell down his face and wetted Blue's clothing.  
  
"i just..." Blue let out a heaved breath, presumably a laugh, "i love you, red."  
  
The words had been almost a whisper, but Red had heard them. They sounded like they were being yelled through a megaphone, like the loudest, most beautiful poem Red had ever in his life heard. He had never had the courage to say those words to Blue, and now here was the very monster he loved saying the only three words that could make Red cry more than he already was. And he was dying in Red's arms.  
  
"i-i love you too, blue." he half cried half laughed, "sorry i was such a _numskull_ and never told you sooner."  
  
Blue gave as big a smile he could, "i'm glad."  
  
Most of Blue's body was gone, now, just a pile of dust and cloth in Red's arms, "don't worry, you'll be fine, i'll fix this."  
  
With one last look up at Red, Blue completely turned to dust, his blue bandana, which he refused to ever take off, was left lying on Red's wrist and the rest of his clothes were in an eerily accurate pattern on the floor. Red pulled the blue piece close to his chest.  
  
"jeez, blue, i thought you hated messes...heh..." Red started sobbing into the only thing that reminded him of his love.  
  
Slow realization crossed Fell's face. He had tortured his brother, beat him, abused him, raped him, every bad thing he could think of besides kill him and that was what Fell had been planning on doing, and yet he had never seen Red so broken, so absolutely destroyed. Normally, Fell would relish the sight, but something inside him that should have died years ago suddenly emerged. Love and not LOVE fueled his slow burning regret and, what was that? Guilt? Those feelings had been covered by a lust for EXP and LOVE for seven years now. Seven years he put people through hell, and now he felt sorry? Was it his brother or something else that made his kinder side show? Fell couldn't answer that.  
  
This was his fault, yet Fell wanted to comfort his brother, hold him and tell him sorry over and over again, but something told him Red would never forgive this.  
  
"don't worry, blue, i can fix this. i'll fix the machine and you can g-go back to your u-universe. everything'll be fine, i promised that, didn't i?" Red sobbed harder, "s-so, please, d-don't l-lose faith in me, o-okay?"  
  
"S-SANS..." Fell went to move closer.  
  
" _ **d o n ' t y o u f u c k i n g t o u c h h i m.**_ "  
  
Above Red's head, a large, animal like skull appeared. Magic lined it's entire frame, the red contrasting brightly against the white of bone. The sight beautiful, in a terrifying way. It was pointed directly at Fell and before he could react fired dark red magic that hit Fell dead on. He toppled over at the sheer, raw power, his HP dropping immensely until only one was left.  
  
"I'M...SORRY." Fell half-cried.  
  
One more bone shot out of the ground, piercing Fell from below. His body quickly dusted, leaving his back armor top suspended midair by the blood red bone.  
  
The only one left, Red cried. Cried for Blue, cried for his brother, cried for himself because he knew he couldn't live. The Royal Guard would kill him when they knew he did this and, even if they didn't, someone else would, if depression didn't drive him to drinking and getting alcohol poisoning. This was it for Red, the end of the line. Maybe this time he'd stay dead and meet Blue where ever you went when you died. Yeah, they could be happy there. They could be together, forever. Red steeled himself and tied the bandana around his neck.  
  
The last skeleton summoned the last bone, aiming it where Fell had aimed before. Shaking slightly from sobs that still wracked him, Red tilted his head back to lean it against the wall.  
  
"sorry, blue, guess i'm bad at keeping promises."  
  
This time, the attack didn't miss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, this is the last chapter. Man, it hurt me to write this. I thought I steeled myself for it, but Goddamn. Now just gotta pull myself together and write an Epilogue. Oh boy.  
> This is one of my longer chapters, sorry. I couldn't find a place I liked to split it up, hope that's alright! Enjoy the last chapter set in Underfell for Blueberries, Edgelords, AUs, Oh My!


	19. Epilogue

Sans opened his eyes carefully, a stinging pain in the back of his skull. He hardly ever got headaches, usually they were caused by nightmares or that annoying dog. Sans, of course, never remembered his nightmares. Papyrus usually had worse reactions to those dreams than Sans did, sometimes screaming in his sleep.  
  
Making sure to go slow, Sans climbed out of his airplane bed and stretched a little. Just getting his skull off the warm pillow made the pain between Sans eye sockets diminish exponentially. Smiling, he went to grab out his clothes and was about to say something, but the words died on his tongue. He had no idea what he was about to say or to whom he was speaking. That was odd. Now that he thought about it, there was a small, nagging sensation mixed into the headache that Sans was missing something. He shook it off as part of the nightmare and quickly dressed, the ache in his skull completely gone by the time he went downstairs.  
  
Surprisingly, Papyrus was up first.  
  
"pappy? are you okay? you're never up before me." Sans questioned.  
  
The taller skeleton turned to face Sans, eye sockets wide and mouth agape. He didn't speak, just hurried forward and scooped Sans in a hug. At first, the smaller skeleton flinched (why did he flinch? He loved hugs!) but then quickly wrapped his arms around Papyrus as well.  
  
Once they were separated, Papyrus started asking questions, "ARE YOU OKAY? DO YOU FEEL OKAY? DID YOU SLEEP WELL? WHERE'S YOUR BANDANA?"  
  
"i'm fine, pappy." Sans put up his hands as if defending himself from more questions, "as for the bandana..."  
  
Weirdly, the piece of cloth Sans always wore around his neck was not there. Oh no, had he had it last night? Was it gone?  
  
Papyrus seemed to read his brother's worry, "HEH, DON'T SWEAT IT, BRO. I'M SURE WE'LL FIND IT."  
  
Sans nodded in affirmation as he walked passed Papyrus into the kitchen and started breakfast. The nagging feeling in his head didn't go away, but it also seemed kinda comforting, like the memory of a good friend you hadn't seen in a while. Sans didn't know who the person was he was trying to remember, but tried not to worry too much about it.  
  
It wouldn't be long until he noticed an odd discoloration in his soul and a name that, bizarrely, was akin to his own. Red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, tiny epilogue is tiny, but there really wasn't much I wanted to put here. Just so you know, the Papyrus in this chapter only went through the experiences explained in chapter 11.  
> This project is both longer and shorter than I had originally planned and is nowhere near the original storyline. I don't know how many months ago my friend asked me to make an Edgeberry fic. She was supper into Undertale, I wasn't really since I hadn't had the chance to play the game yet, but I told her I'd try one day. After playing the game, loving it btw, and reading up on a butch of AUs, I started this story. It was going to be short, a tiny redemption story, but as I got close to the end of the first chapter, I had a what-if pop into the back of my mind. If your alternate self just appeared one day, then was hurt badly, wouldn't sympathy force you to help them? After that, I just had to change it to Cherryberry and, the friend who asked me to write this in the first place told me she would never want this story to be any other way. Then again, she hasn't read the ending yet. Anyway, I should stop carrying on about that.  
> This is -the end- for this story and I can't thank you guys enough. Always supportive and awesome. I can imagine the mob that is gonna come after me for ending this here, but I have to. If you want a better ending where Pappy kicks some ass and Fell gets his what for's while Blue and Red live happily ever after, I won't stop you from writing it. And as we close the book on this last chapter with this last note, I bid you all fairwell. Until my next angst story, darlings!


End file.
